First Amendment

WaPo Tacking Left?

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Article in The Wrap by A.J. KAtz, 9/1/26

Headline: “Defends Iran War Report Amid ‘Traitor’ Criticism”

Subhead: “The update comes after the paper reported that senior military leaders warned Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth against prolonged large-scale operations”

“The Washington Post editorial board defended the paper’s reporting that senior military leaders are concerned the U.S. military is being stretched thin by the war with Iran, following criticism from the Pentagon and one of the newspaper’s own columnists.

“ ‘In a free society, there is an overwhelming public interest in knowing these facts,’ the board wrote. ‘The Constitution guarantees the rights of news organizations to publish such information.’

“The defense comes after WaPo columnist Marc Thiessen called the confidential government source behind the reporting a ‘traitor’ and said the leaker should be prosecuted, as TheWrap previously reported. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.thewrap.com/media-platforms/journalism/washington-post-editorial-board-defends-traitor-iran-war-report/

Report Problems, Get Fired

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Article in The Guardian by Robert Mackey, 8/27/26

Headline:  “Three journalists sue Pentagon after being fired from military news outlet”

Subhead:  “Three employees of Stars and Stripes, a government-funded news service, allege they were fired after reporting on USS Abraham Lincoln”

“Three journalists who were fired by the Pentagon from a US government-funded news outlet sued the Department of Defense in federal court on Thursday, arguing their dismissals were illegal and violated their first amendment rights to free speech.

“The three journalists were all employees of Stars and Stripes, which their court filing calls “the U.S. military’s independent news source since the Civil War with a long history of editorial independence, free from news management or censorship by military command”. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/27/journalists-sue-pentagon-stars-and-stripes

Censoring News to Troops?

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Article in Daily Beast by Sarah-Jane Collins, 8/22/26

Headline:  “Hegseth Launches Twisted Attack on Free Press Over Carrier Scandal”

Subhead:  “The publisher and editor of Stars and Stripes were given the boot after an interview cautioning against censorship.”

“Long-time publisher Max Lederer and Editor-in-Chief Erik Slavin were given “separation notices” that allow five days to appeal the decision. . .”

“Korte and Slavin traced the decision back to interviews they did that aired on CBS Sunday Morning in July.”

“ ‘According to the notice, I am being fired for stating in a CBS interview that censorship of news for service members would constitute a red line. The Pentagon’s public affairs office has charged me with insubordination,’ Slavin told CBS. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/hegseths-twisted-attack-on-free-press-over-carrier-scandal/

Media Harping on Trump Aide

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Article in The Atlantic by Jonathan Lemire 8/20/26

Headline: “The White House Freak-Out Over Natalie Harp”

Subhead:  “The West Wing’s explosive response to a fleeting jab didn’t kill the story. It enabled days of coverage.”

“. . .This past Sunday, Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia—who has become quite good at delivering viral campaign sound bites, slickly filmed by multiple cameras—unleashed a blistering indictment of President Trump’s leadership. . .”

“But then the West Wing lost its mind. And Trump did too. Their pushback was so overwhelming, so obviously coordinated, so ugly and personal that it became a story. The White House inadvertently created news, as well as a permission structure for even the most cautious, fact-based media organizations to take on the topic. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/2026/08/ossoff-trump-natalie-harp/688365/

Battle for Free Press?

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Article in Status by Oliver Darcy, 8/18/26

Headline:  “Disney Goes To War”

Subhead:  “In an extraordinary lawsuit, the Josh D’Amaro-led company accused the federal government of serious First Amendment violations and warned that if it loses, “the press could in no way be described as free.”

“. . .It was evident to Disney executives all along that Carr’s probe into the company was about much more than its D.E.I. policies. A person familiar with the Josh D’Amaro-led company’s thinking told Status. . .

Read the full article at:

https://www.status.news/p/disney-abc-fcc-lawsuit-brendan-carr-stations

Code for Journalists

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Liz Skalka, 8/10/26

Headline:  “Revising the Ethics Code”

Subhead: “The Society of Professional Journalists is taking a red pencil to its ethics guidelines—the first update since 2014.”

“The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), a more than century-old industry organization. . . might be best known for its code of ethics, a set of bullet-pointed precepts that can fit on a poster designed to hang in journalism classrooms and newsrooms: ‘Seek Truth and Report It’; ‘Minimize Harm’; ‘Act Independently’; ‘Be Accountable and Transparent.’ . . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/feature/society-professional-journalists-spj-revising-the-ethics-code-ethical-precepts-ai-voice-content-creators.php

Reporting is “Treason”?

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Article in Poynter by Tom Jones and Angela Fu, 8/7/26

Headline:  “Opinion | Donald Trump accuses The Washington Post of treason”

Subhead: “A reported squabble with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last week resulted in “fake news” accusations from the Trump administration”

“. . .In a lengthy Truth Social post, Trump wrote ‘The Fake News, as usual, is spreading false and completely unfounded rumors. I am extremely happy with the job that Pete Hegseth is doing.’. . .”

He later wrote, “This rumor was started by The WashingtonComPost, [sic] one of the worst Media Outlets in the business, despite our telling them their story is completely FALSE. In actuality, I really believe their fake ‘reporting’ is treasonous!”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2026/donald-trump-accuses-the-washington-post-of-treason/

Invite Person Who Suppresses Press?

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Article in Status by Jon Passantino, 7/25/26

Headline: “The White House Correspondents’ Disgrace”

Subhead:  “The WHCA sought to reconvene its annual dinner in celebration of press freedom. Instead. it handed Donald Trump a platform to attack the very journalists the organization exists to represent.”

“On Friday night, hundreds of journalists, dignitaries, and members of the Trump administration gathered in Washington for a do-over of the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. . .”

Read the article at:

https://www.status.news/p/the-white-house-correspondents-disgrace

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Article by Jem Bartholomew in Columbia Journalism Review, 7/27/26

Headline:   “A Tale of Two Speeches”

Subhead: “The press’s responsible handling of Trump’s incoherent speech about US election integrity contrasted starkly with Friday’s farcical WHCA dinner.”

“Ever since Donald Trump thudded onto the national political stage, the press has had a difficult time handling the frequency, magnitude, and outlandishness of his lies. . .”

“The thoughtfulness with which the press handled the July 16 speech was worlds apart from the farcical spectacle of the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) dinner. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/a-tale-of-two-speeches-trump-election-integrity-lack-evidence-fact-check-whca-dinner-white-house-correspondents-redo-awkward-wall-street-journal-new-york-times-subpoenas-cnn.php

Media Precedent Still Valid?

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Article in The New York Times by Adam Liptak, 7/16/26

Headline:  “Could a 50-Year-Old Case Thwart Trump’s Attacks on the News Media?”

Subhead:  “The precedent said that ‘official harassment of the press’ is forbidden by the First Amendment.”

“It has been more than half a century since the Supreme Court issued its only decision on whether the First Amendment allows prosecutors to force reporters to testify about their confidential sources.

“The meaning of that precedent, Branzburg v. Hayes, is contested, and how the courts apply it may determine the fate of the Trump administration’s aggressive efforts to compel journalists to reveal their sources. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/16/us/politics/the-docket-supreme-court-press.html

Coercing Reporter to Reveal Sources

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Riddhi Setty, 7/15/26

Headline:  “Private Matters”

Subhead:  “Catherine Herridge, a former Fox News reporter, is being compelled to pay $800 a day until she reveals confidential sources.”

In 2003, Toni Locy, a former reporter for USA Today, published a series of articles about the FBI’s investigation into the 2001 anthrax attacks . . . Along the way, she reported on Steven Hatfill, a former Army scientist who was the initial focus of the FBI’s probe. In 2003, Hatfill filed a civil lawsuit under the Privacy Act. . . As part of his legal efforts, in 2004 he pressed Locy and other journalists to testify and reveal their sources.

In February of 2008, a federal judge held Locy in contempt of court for refusing to do so.

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/analysis/private-matters-catherine-herridge-fox-news-confidential-sources-reveal-privacy-act-lawsuit.php