Press Freedom

It Can’t Happen Here – Can It?

by

Article in the Washington Post By A.G. Sulzberger (New York Times Publisher), September 5, 2024 at 6:00 a.m. EDT

Headline: “Opinion: How the quiet war against press freedom could come to America”

Subhead: “Some foreign leaders have ruthlessly curtailed journalism. U.S. politicians could draw from their playbook”

“After several years out of power, the former leader is returned to office on a populist platform. He blames the news media’s coverage of his previous government for costing him reelection. As he sees it, tolerating the independent press, with its focus on truth-telling and accountability, weakened his ability to steer public opinion. This time, he resolves not to make the same mistake.

“Within a few years, only pockets of independence remain in the country’s news media, freeing the leader from perhaps the most challenging obstacle to his increasingly authoritarian rule. Instead, the nightly news and broadsheet headlines unskeptically parrot his claims, often unmoored from the truth, flattering his accomplishments while demonizing and discrediting his critics.“

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/09/05/sulzberger-free-press-new-york-times/

Attacking the Press Has Consequences

by


Article in Lost Angeles Times from AP, 8/31/24

Headline:  “Man who stormed into rally press area after Trump bashed media will face charges, police say”

“Police said Saturday that a man will face charges after he stormed into the press area at Donald Trump’s rally in Johnstown, Pa., as the former president spoke.

“The incident Friday came moments after Trump criticized major media outlets for what he said was unfavorable coverage, singling out CNN for its interview Thursday with his Democratic rival, Kamala Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz.

“Fierce criticism of the media is a standard part of Trump’s rally speeches, and his supporters often turn toward the press section and boo; some gesture with their middle fingers.

“Moments before the man ventured into the designated section, Trump called the media the “enemy of the people.” Video of the incident does not make clear what the man was yelling.”

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2024-08-31/man-who-stormed-into-rally-press-area-after-trump-bashed-media-will-face-charges-police-say

Cop Charged After Raid on Newspaper

by

Washington Post photo.

Continuing saga of the Kansas police chief vs. Marion County Record.  Cop now charged with a felony.  Raid a newspaper and an editor’s home  – FAFO.

Article in the Washington Post on 8/13/24 by Ben Brasch and Sofia Andrade.

Headline:  “Ex-police chief who led raid on Kansas newspaper faces felony charge”

“The Aug. 11, 2023, raid of the Marion County Record’s newsroom and the home of its editor and publisher, Eric Meyer, brought the nation’s attention to a county of 12,000 residents roughly 60 miles north of Wichita. The raid sparked national outrage from press freedom advocates.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2023/08/26/marion-county-newspaper-police-raid-what-really-happened/

Bangladesh Could Have Free Press Soon

by


From The Guardian article of 8/9/24 by Redwan Ahmed and Kaamil Ahmed.

Headline:  “Bangladeshi journalists hopeful of press freedom as Hasina era ends”

Recently the authoritarian leader Sheikh Hasina fled the country after protesters forced her out.  This followed years of oppressive rule and censorship of the press.

“Arrests, abuse and forced disappearances at the hands of Bangladesh’s security forces have loomed over journalists for most of Hasina’s 15-year rule, preventing them from routine reporting for fear of writing anything that could be perceived as embarrassing for the government.”

Link:  https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/article/2024/aug/09/bangladeshi-journalists-hopeful-for-return-to-press-freedom-as-hasina-era-ends

Kansas Newspaper Raid Update

by

Article by Sherman Smith in the Kansas Reflector, 8/4/24:

Headline:  “Judge who authorized Kansas newspaper raid escapes discipline with secret conflicting explanation”

About a year ago in August, 2023, a national news article article by Joseph O’Connell in the Washington Post, reported that the police raided a Kansas newspaper.  The Marion County Record was exposing alleged corruption in the city government.

Now reported in an article on 8/4/24 by Sherman Smith in the Kansas Reflector you may follow this link to read the story:

https://kansasreflector.com/2024/08/04/judge-who-authorized-kansas-newspaper-raid-escapes-discipline-with-secret-conflicting-explanation/

(The original article may be found on this website’s August, 2023 archive):

https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2023/08/26/marion-county-newspaper-police-raid-what-really-happened/

Want to be A Journalist? Don’t go to Afghanistan

by

From The Guardian article by Sakhidad Hatif on 5/1/24

Headline: “The Taliban targeted us, beat us and chased us out. This is how we run our Afghan newspaper from exile”

http://web.archive.org/web/20240507203617/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/may/01/taliban-afghanistan-newspaper-exile-us-reporters

“In the two decades before the Taliban returned to power, Afghanistan had vibrant media sector. There were newspapers, television channels, periodicals, magazines and more, invigorating the public discourse by allowing citizens to express their views on national and local issues. That is completely gone”

 

Missouri Sues Media Matters, Demands Names

by

Headline: “Missouri AG sues Media Matters over its X research, demands donor names – Media watchdog clams ‘meritless, expensive, and harassing investigations.'”

From Ars Technca, Article by Jon Brodkin 4/26/24

http://web.archive.org/web/20240416212423/https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/03/missouri-ag-sues-media-matters-in-lawsuit-echoing-elon-musks-complaints/

 

“Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey yesterday in an attempt to protect Elon Musk and X from the nonprofit watchdog group’s investigations into hate speech on the social network. Bailey’s claims that “Media Matters has used fraud to solicit donations from Missourians in order to trick advertisers into removing their advertisements from X, formerly Twitter, one of the last platforms
dedicated to free speech in America.”

Innocent Journalist Was Tortured at Abu Ghraib

by


An image obtained by The Associated Press shows an unidentified detainee standing on a box with a bag on his head and wires attached to him in late 2003 at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad, Iraq. – from NPR.

Headline: “Correct a black mark in US history’: former prisoners of Abu Ghraib get day in court”

Article by Alice Speri in The Guardian 4/14/24.

//www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2024/apr/14/abu-ghraib-iraq-torture-abuse