Legal Info

Group Legal documents

Legal Journalist Protections Ignored?

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Article in the New York Times by Charlie Savage, 2/2/26

Headline:  “U.S. Failed to Alert Judge to Press Law in Application to Search Reporter’s Home”

Subhead:  “The Justice Department did not address a 1980 law that generally bars warrants for reporting material when it sought to seize a Washington Post reporter’s devices, an unsealed filing shows”

“The Justice Department failed to tell a magistrate judge about a 1980 law protecting journalists in its application materials for a warrant to search a Washington Post reporter’s home last month as part of a leak investigation, an unsealed court filing shows. . .”

“The 1980 law, the Privacy Protection Act, says ‘it shall be unlawful’ for investigators to search for or seize journalistic work product and documentary materials unless the reporters themselves are suspected of committing certain crimes related to those materials. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/us/politics/doj-press-law-warrant-application-washington-post-journalist.html

Journalist Exposes Secret Lists

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Article in Common Dreams by Brett Wilkins, 1/28/26

Headline: ” ‘She’s Lying’: Journalist Exposes Secret Watch Lists That Trump Official Says Don’t Exist”

Subhead:  ” ‘If we don’t explore more why all of these secret lists exist,’ one US intelligence officer said, there could be ‘even more of an environment of paranoia on the ground and more tragic killings.’ “

“Despite denials from a senior Trump administration official, secret watchlists of Americans are being used by federal agencies to track and categorize US citizens—especially protesters, activists, and critics of law enforcement—as ‘domestic terrorists,’ investigative journalist Ken Klippenstein reported Wednesday.

Read the full article at:

https://www.commondreams.org/news/secret-watchlists-of-americans

Fighting Media Consolidation

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Article in Free Press by Staff, 1/27/26

Headline: “Dozens of Groups Send FCC a Letter of Support for Petition to Deny Illegal Nexstar-Tegna Merger”

Subhead: “This massive broadcast-industry merger would be a blatant violation of the law prohibiting one company from too much control over local airwaves”

“On Tuesday, 28 public-interest groups, labor unions and civil-rights organizations sent the Federal Communications Commission a letter of support for a public-interest petition to deny the proposed merger of Nexstar and Tegna.

The petition — filed at the end of 2025 by Free Press, the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians—Communications Workers of America (NABET-CWA), The NewsGuild—Communications Workers of America (TNG-CWA), the United Church of Christ Media Justice Ministry and Public Knowledge — calls on the agency to reject a merger that would create an illegal broadcast conglomerate. The deal would exceed the 39-percent audience-reach “National Cap” Congress set. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.freepress.net/news/dozens-groups-send-fcc-letter-support-petition-deny-illegal-nexstar-tegna-merger

NYT Sued Redux?

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Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 1/23/26

Headline:  “Opinion | Stop us if you heard this one before: Trump threatens The New York Times“

Subhead:  “The president is not happy about the outlet’s recent poll results”

“With Donald Trump finishing up his first year as president for the second time, there’s a new New York Times/Siena poll about his job performance.

“Two things about it are not surprising.

“One, his approval rating is not good. And, two, Trump is mad as hell about it.. .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2026/trump-sues-new-york-times-tiktok-deal-reached/

Fairness Doctrine Revival . . .for Some?

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Article in The Washington Post by Kelly Kasulis Cho & Scott Nover, 1/22/26

Headline:  “FCC targets talk shows by revisiting ‘equal time’ rule for political candidates”

Subhead:  “By changing course on a decades-old ruling, the agency again raised free speech concerns over the Trump administration’s approach to media regulation”

“The Federal Communications Commission said Wednesday that network talk shows are required to give equal airtime to all candidates intending to run for the same public office, changing course on a decades-old ruling and again raising free-speech concerns over the Trump administration’s approach to media regulation. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2026/01/22/late-night-equal-time-fcc/

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Article in Reuters by David Shepardson, 1/21/26

Headline:  “FCC says US late-night, daytime talk shows must offer equal time for candidate interviews”

“WASHINGTON, Jan 21 (Reuters) – The Federal Communications Commission said on Wednesday that daytime and late-night TV talk shows featuring interviews with political candidates must comply with “equal time” rules that give airtime to views of opposing candidates and that the shows cannot rely on a 2006 decision that suggested they were exempt.

“Until now, talk shows have qualified for the equal opportunities exemption as genuine news interviews, ever since the FCC’s Media Bureau granted an exemption to the interview portion of Jay Leno’s “Tonight Show” in 2006. Networks have relied on the ruling as a precedent for recent interviews with political candidates. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2026/01/22/late-night-equal-time-fcc/

Radio Stations vs. Cuts

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Lucy Schiller, 1/21/26

Headline:  “The NPR and Colorado Stations That Took Trump to Court”

Subhead:  “It isn’t just an affront to localism. It’s an attempt to reengineer thought.”

“. . .Nationally, the landscape of public radio has been charred since last July, when Congress stripped more than a billion dollars from public broadcasting, at the behest of Donald Trump, who released an executive order characterizing NPR and PBS as “biased.” NPR prepared to file suit against the Trump administration in federal court, arguing that the stoppage of funds, via the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, inhibited freedom of speech, in the form of viewpoint discrimination. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/analysis/the-npr-and-colorado-public-media-radio-stations-that-took-trump-to-court.php

Washington Post Raid on Hold

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Article in The Guardian by Jeremy Barr, 1/21/26

Headline:  “Prosecutors barred from reviewing material seized from Washington Post reporter”

Subhead:  “Judge issues temporary order after paper had sought return of Hannah Natanson’s devices taken in ‘outrageous seizure’ “

“A US judge temporarily blocked federal prosecutors on Wednesday from reviewing material seized when the FBI raided a Washington Post reporter’s home.

“Hours earlier, the Post asked a federal court in Virginia to force the US government to return electronics belonging to Hannah Natanson.

“US magistrate judge William Porter directed prosecutors not to examine any information seized at . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/jan/21/washington-post-reporter-fbi-search

Media Intimidation Fails

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Article in The Daily Beast by Hugh Dougherty, 1/16/26

Headline: “Trump’s Campaign Manager Ditches Lawsuit Against Daily Beast“

Subhead: “Chris LaCivita wanted “triple damages” and got no money or apology.”

“Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign manager has ditched a lawsuit against the Daily Beast.

“Chris LaCivita, who co-managed Trump’s election victory with Susie Wiles, discontinued his lawsuit on a Friday night before a federal holiday, despite having initially posted on X: ‘F— Around Find Out,’ and boasting, ‘I’m really looking forward to making my case in front of a jury.’

Read the full article at:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-campaign-manager-ditches-lawsuit-against-daily-beast/

Rt. Wing Media Doubting?

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Article in Media Matters by Matt Gertz, 1/13/26

Headline:  “The right-wing media backlash against the Jerome Powell probe”

“The Justice Department’s criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell drew swift pushback from across right-wing media on Monday, as pundits typically aligned with President Donald Trump savaged the move as “lawfare for dummies” that would ‘make a martyr’ of its target. The widespread criticism emphasized the lack of a constituency for strong-arming the Fed into endorsing Trump’s policy agenda with apparent pretextual legal threats. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/right-wing-media-backlash-against-jerome-powell-probe

BBC Unbowed to Threat

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Article in The Guardian by Michael Savage, 12/16/25

Headline:  “BBC to fight Trump’s $10bn lawsuit, saying it should be dismissed”

Subhead:  “Corporation will argue it did not have rights to air film in US and it did not cause serious reputational harm”

“The BBC is preparing to argue Donald Trump’s $10bn court case against it should be dismissed, arguing it has no case to answer over the US president’s claims he was defamed by an episode of Panorama. . .”

“On Tuesday, the BBC said it would defend itself over the suit. It is understood that the corporation is likely to argue that it did not have the rights to air the documentary in the US, and that the case should therefore be dismissed. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2025/dec/16/bbc-donald-trump-lawsuit-should-be-dismissed

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Article in The Mirror by Christopher Butkin, 12/26/25

Headline:  “Donald Trump’s BBC lawsuit ‘puts him on the stand’ where ‘he must tell the truth’ “

Subhead:  “Donald Trump, the US President, is seeking up to $10billion (£7.5billion) in damages in response to the editing of a speech he made which was featured in a Panorama episode

“Donald Trump could be forced to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth if he goes ahead with his $10billion lawsuit against the BBC. Lawyers for the broadcaster are said to be considering launching an aggressive defence. And they could make the US president face questions about his actions during the Capitol riot of January 6, 2021. It is something no congressional committee, prosecutor or journalist has ever been able to do. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/us-news/donald-trumps-bbc-lawsuit-puts-36413086