15 February 2020 — Defend Wikileaks
The Prosecution of Julian Assange: His Right to Publish is Our Right to Know
Tag: press freedom
The Prosecution of Julian Assange and Its Impact on the Freedom of the Press
1 February 2020 — Defend Wikileaks
On 30 January 2020, at the National Press Club’s First Amendment Lounge in Washington D.C., a panel of experts discussed the Trump Administration’s indictment of WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange and the impact Assange’s extradition and prosecution could have on the freedom of the press.
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DNC lawsuit against WikiLeaks dismissed in major free press victory
3 August 2019 — Defend Wikileaks
In a historic win for WikiLeaks and its editor-in-chief Julian Assange a federal judge in New York dismissed a lawsuit by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) over WikiLeaks’ publication of DNC documents in 2016. The case sets an important precedent for freedom of the press.
World Press Freedom Day Is a Joke in the Middle East as the West Continues to Destroy Journalism There By Martin Jay
6 May 2019 — Strategic Culture Foundation
British and Canadian diplomats hijacking World Press Freedom Day is a really bad joke. But that’s what happened recently in Beirut when this not so auspicious day passed, leaving some in the Middle East wondering if journalism can play any role whatsoever in improving governance, holding states to account and emboldening democracy.
World Press Freedom Index: “UK remained one of the worst-ranked Western European countries”
22 April 2019 — True Publica
The World Press Freedom Index ranks 180 countries and regions according to the level of freedom available to journalists. It is a snapshot of the media freedom situation based on an evaluation of pluralism, independence of the media, quality of legislative framework and safety of journalists in each country and region. It does not rank public policies even if governments obviously have a major impact on their country’s ranking. Nor is it an indicator of the quality of journalism in each country or region.
The Threat to the Media Posed by the Trump Administraion’s Prosecution of Julian Assange
18 March 2019 — Defend Wikileaks
THE “ASSANGE PRECEDENT”:
A precedent with profound implications for press freedom
US Justice Department protocols include sweeping attacks on press freedom By Eric London
4 March 2014 — WSWS
In an order published by Attorney General Eric Holder on February 27, the Obama administration granted itself unprecedented powers to spy on and prosecute journalists. The new policy announcement directly violates the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, which provides that “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom speech, or of the press…”
Police State UK: The NSA spy scandal and the attack on press freedom By Chris Marsden
6 November 2013 — WSWS
Recently released police documents on the August 18 arrest and questioning at London’s Heathrow airport of David Miranda, the domestic partner of journalist Glenn Greenwald, are a serious warning on the advanced stage of the decay of democracy in Britain and internationally.
As Europe Erupts Over US Spying, NSA Chief Says Government Must Stop Media By Glenn Greenwald
28 October 2013 — The Guardian
With General Alexander calling for NSA reporting to be halted, US and UK credibility as guardians of press freedom is crushed
Miranda detention: UK’s actions ‘incompatible’ with Human Rights Convention – Council of Europe
22 August 2013 — RT
The Guardian’s partial legal victory over the UK government’s seizure of documents still bodes badly for press freedom and is incompatible with EU convention, Daniel Holtgen, Director of Communications at the Council of Europe told RT.
Without investigative journalists, the UK will move closer to a police state
21 August 2013 — RT
Without healthy, thriving newspapers and investigative journalists prepared to ask difficult questions of security services, the UK will move closer to a bona fide police state, British journalist Tony Gosling told RT.
Bradley Manning (not) on TV Network News By Peter Hart
5 June 2013 — FAIR Blog
The first day of Bradley Manning’s court-martial trial was, by any rational definition, big news. Manning allegedly shared thousands of documents with the anti-secrecy websiteWikiLeaks. Those revelations made enormous contributions to public knowledge about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and exposed some of theinner workings of U.S. foreign policy.
Freedom of the Press: Obama Justice Department Secretly seized Associated Press Telephone Records By Barry Grey
15 May, 2013 — World Socialist Web Site
In a brazen and illegal attack on press freedom, the Obama Justice Department secretly subpoenaed the telephone records of Associated Press editors and journalists and tracked ingoing and outgoing calls on at least 20 telephone lines, including the national headquarters of the press agency and its news bureaus in New York, Hartford and Washington DC. Among the lines tracked was the telephone used by AP reporters working out of the House of Representatives press gallery in the Capitol.
The NYT's Problem With Leftist Presidents By Peter Hart
19 February 2013 — FAIR Blog
Left-wing Ecuadorean president Rafael Correa was poised to win re-election on Sunday. Give that fact, the New York Times went with a peculiar headline for their February 16 piece
Press under attack in Haiti By John Mario
12 July 2011 — wsws.org
A series of recent events in Haiti have highlighted continuing threats to press freedom in a country where democratic rights are routinely denied in the interests of US imperialism and the local ruling elite.
USA: Freedom of the press behind bars
28 November, 2010 — RT.com
Should journalists be given more freedom than ordinary people on the streets, especially when it comes to covering protests? That is the question Lori Harfenist, also known as “The Resident”, asks people in New York, following the arrest of an RT crew reporting on a demonstration at Fort Benning military base in the US state of Georgia.
Anti-Venezuela Spokespeople Misrepresent Reality of Press Freedom in Venezuela By Mark Weisbrot
5 August, 2009 — MRZine – Monthly Review
Denis MacShane attacks the British left for defending Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez against an onslaught from the media, “New Cold Warriors,” and right-wing demagogues throughout the world. His rhetorical trick is to tar the left with a new media law currently being debated in the Venezuelan Congress, which he says “would impose prison sentences of up to four years for journalists whose writings might divulge information against ‘the stability of the institutions of the state.'”
Of course this is a bad law. There are a number of bad laws on the books in Venezuela, and in fact numerous countries in the region have “desacato” laws which make it a crime to insult the President. Do MacShane’s targets — he mentions Ken Livingstone and Richard Gott — support such laws? I would bet serious money that they do not. So his main line of attack is misleading if not downright dishonest.
MacShane also misrepresents the reality of press freedom in Venezuela. In fact, there is a much more oppositional media in Venezuela than in the United States, and a much greater range of debate in the major media. This can be seen simply by looking at the most important media in both countries. In the U.S., for example, not even the most aggressive right-wing commentators such as Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity would present the idea that the President should be lynched. But Globovision, one of the largest-audience TV networks in Venezuela, had a show where a guest did just that.
UK: MPs continue to speak out in police- journalist relations
30 June, 2009 – Editors Weblog
Members of the UK Parliament have spoken out against the police force’s’dismissive’ treatment of journalists covering protests. They issued a reminder that the police should adhere to the guidelines of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) which outlines how the forces should treat registered members of the press.
The study of police-journalist relations was contained in a report investigating policing methods used to contain protesters outside the G20 meeting in London last April. The report was released today by the Home Affairs Committee of the House of Commons.
The report maintains that while the police did not deliberately target reporters covering the protests, there were efforts to hinder journalists from passing through police cordons. MPs disagreed with the arguments presented by Met Police commander Robert Broadhurst that ‘when there is a disorderly situation they [journalists] have no more right than the ordinary citizen to come through all our cordons’.
MPs affirmed that this statement was an ‘apparent contradiction’ of ACPO guidelines which state ‘We [the police] should actively help them carry out their responsibilities provided they do not interfere with our’.
The report condemned the use of the Public Order Act to disperse journalists without justification. It warns that the misuse of Section 14 ‘sends out completely the wrong signal of the police’s intentions and does not help the police build strong relationships with the media.’
Equally, the report advised that reporters, particularly freelance journalists should receive more comprehensive briefing before they are to cover large demonstrations. To clarify and ‘codify’ the relationship between police and journalists, it suggested that the briefings given to ‘media members before public protest be published on the website of the police and the National Union of Journalists prior to the event.’
The NUJ has been campaigning for months for senior figures to address the malpractices of front line police officers in their treatment of members of the media. NUJ Legal Officer Roy Mincoff supports the committee’s findings, expressing on the website: ‘This report sends a clear signal to the police that they must address our concerns.’ He made it clear however, that reports and discussion must produce serious changes: ‘If improvements can’t be made then ministerial intervention must be made to ensure the guidelines on dealing with the media are properly implemented.’
The relationship between journalists and the police has been awarded a considerable amount of time in the Commons over past months. It appears that MPs concerned to bring the issue to the board are in favour of furthering the protection of journalists’ rights in face of the security services. The cementing of existing legislation and the clarification of relationships should in theory facilitate the work of reporters covering public disturbances and other acts of investigative journalism.
Sources : Press Gazette
National Union of Journalists
The New Dark Age 
