Tag: freedom of the press

Daniel Ellsberg: Espionage Charges Against Assange Are Most Significant Attack on Press in Decades

As the Justice Department charges WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange with 17 counts of violating the Espionage Act, we speak to Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg. In 1971, he was charged with violating the Espionage Act for leaking a top-secret report on U.S. involvement in Vietnam to The New York Times and other publications. At the time, Ellsberg faced over 100 years in prison. He tells Democracy Now!, “There hasn’t actually been such a significant attack on the freedom of the press … since my case in 1971.”

View the complete May 24 article with video on the Democracy Now! website here.

Trump lashes out at New York Times for Mueller reporting

President Trump on Thursday lashed out at The New York Times for reporting that members of special counsel Robert Mueller’s team have concerns with Attorney General William Barr‘s summary of its report on the Russia investigation.

“The New York Times had no legitimate sources, which would be totally illegal, concerning the Mueller Report. In fact, they probably had no sources at all! They are a Fake News paper who have already been forced to apologize for their incorrect and very bad reporting on me!” Trump tweeted.

The Times report detailed concerns from unidentified investigators that Mueller’s findings are worse for Trump than Barr’s summary made them appear.

View the complete April 4 article by Jordan Fabian on The Hill website here.

‘What happens in a totalitarian regime’: Capitol Police slammed for ‘disturbing’ physical attacks on reporters

Press freedom advocates and journalists described a Friday report of Capitol Police manhandling and shoving reporters in the Russell Senate Office Building as “bizarre” and “disturbing,” with some calling the altercation an incident far more likely to take place in a totalitarian regime than in a democracy.

As Roll Call reported Friday, Capitol Police pushed and “slammed into” reporters on Thursday afternoon around the time that senators were voting on the spending bill. The police attempted to prevent reporters from speaking to lawmakers—a practice that is common in the Senate basement, where the incident took place.

rjbrennan

✔@rjbrennan

It’s what happens in totalitarian regime.

Capitol Police crackdown on press escalates to physical altercation https://www.rollcall.com/news/congress/capitol-police-crackdown-press-escalates-physical-altercation … via @RollCall

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Capitol Police crackdown on press escalates to physical altercation

A Capitol Police crackdown turned physical Thursday afternoon, when officers clashed with reporters attempting to speak with senators in a location known as key territory for lawmakers and media to…

rollcall.com

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Suzanne Nossel, CEO of PEN America, called Roll Call’s report a “disturbing account,” while the National Press Club said in a statement that Capitol Police’s actions “contravened the chamber’s long-standing bipartisan practice of supporting journalists’ access to lawmakers.”

View the complete February 17 article by Julia Conley on the AlterNet website here.

Capitol Police crackdown on press escalates to physical altercation

A Capitol Police crackdown turned physical Thursday, when police clashed with reporters attempting to speak with senators Credit: Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call

Witness: ‘It got really ugly’

A Capitol Police crackdown turned physical Thursday afternoon, when officers clashed with reporters attempting to speak with senators in a location known as key territory for lawmakers and media to mix: the Senate basement.

Capitol Police officers physically shoved reporters away from senators heading to vote on the spending package, even when lawmakers were willingly engaging with the press.

Officers surrounded lawmakers and escorted them, physically blocking reporters from walking and talking alongside senators. It is common for Capitol Police to be present in the basement during a vote, but there were many more officers on hand than usual.

Customs officials admit an officer harassed a BuzzFeed reporter trying to enter the US over the outlet’s Trump coverage

On Sunday, BuzzFeed News’ breaking news deputy director David Mack arrived at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, after traveling to the United Kingdom to renew his U.S. work visa. As a customs officer was processing his passport, he noticed his employer — and began to question him about his paper’s reporting on President Donald Trump.

Mack detailed the incident in a Twitter thread that night:

David Mack

✔@davidmackau

the immigration agent at JFK just saw that i work for buzzfeed and just grilled me for 10 minutes about the cohen story which was fun given he gets to decide whether to let me back into the country

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David Mack

✔@davidmackau

Replying to @davidmackau

he was 100% convinced mueller had personally given a press conference calling us fake news and i had to politely assure him that didn’t happen while also not wanting to piss him off any further

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David Mack

✔@davidmackau

Replying to @davidmackau

the funny part was he first said “oh BuzzFeed, you guys have had a rough time of late, huh” and at first i was like ty for showing so much concern about the layoffs, my good sir

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David Mack

✔@davidmackau

Replying to @davidmackau

anyway there were literally dozens of people waiting and i shit you not he was about to google the mueller response to see if it was televised or at least grill me about it

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David Mack

✔@davidmackau

Replying to @davidmackau

he did ask me repeatedly what if anything the mueller inquiry has done and when i told him about the dozens of charges he said “but no collusion” and i said that’s true but pointed out that like a dozen russians had also been charged with meddling. he was nonplussed about that.

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On Tuesday, BuzzFeed reported that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Assistant Commissioner for Public Affairs Andrew Meehan personally called Mack to apologize and promise that they would launch a full investigation into the officer’s conduct.

“On behalf of the agency, I would like to extend our apologies to Mr. David Mack for the inappropriate remarks made to him during his CBP processing upon his arrival to the United States,” Meehan told BuzzFeed. “The officer’s comments do not reflect CBP’s commitment to integrity and professionalism of its workforce. In response to this incident, CBP immediately reviewed the event and has initiated the appropriate personnel inquiry and action.”

In remarkable exchange, Trump offers startling view of role of free press

Credit: Jacquelyn Martin, AP

Ever since Donald Trump set the tone for his presidency by berating the press for accurately reporting on his paltry inaugural crowd size and attacking the media as the “enemy of the American people,” journalists and commentators have tried to persuade Trump to take two things seriously in his role as president.

First, that the role of the free press is to hold the powerful to account. And second, that President Trump’s attacks on the news media have dangerous consequences, both at home and around the world.

In a remarkable new exchange, the publisher of the New York Times pressed Trump at length on both these points. The results were startling. Trump displayed only the dimmest awareness that his attacks on the press might be having severely negative effects, while repeatedly reverting into a tone that alternated between megalomaniacal self-congratulation and self-imagined victimization, and largely refusing to accept responsibility for those consequences.

View the complete commentary by Greg Sargent on The Washington Post website here.

Jim Hightower: Free the free press from Wall Street plunder

Our right to a free press is meaningless if hedge funds can gobble up and gut the community newspapers that exercise it.

A two-panel cartoon I recently saw showed a character with a sign saying: “First they came for the reporters.” In the next panel, his sign says: “We don’t know what happened after that.”

It was, of course, a retort to Donald Trump’s campaign to demonize the news media as “the enemy of the people.” But when it comes to America’s once-proud newspapers, their worst enemy isn’t Trump — nor is it the rising cost of newsprint or the “free” digital news on websites.

Rather, the demise of the real news reporting by our city and regional papers is a product of their profiteering owners.

View the complete December 2 article by Jim Hightower on the AlterNet.org website here.

Trump to Female Reporter: ‘Don’t Be a Baby’

Credit: Jonathan Ernst, Reuters

President Trump brushed off questions from a female reporter on Friday by telling her, “Don’t be a baby.” During a round-table discussion on immigration in Arizona, Trump had repeatedly stated that migrants trying to enter the U.S. are “hardened criminals.” “These are some bad people coming through. These aren’t babies, these aren’t little angels coming into our country,” he said. When New York Times reporter Emily Cochrane asked him to clarify what evidence leads him to believe the migrants are “hardened criminals,” Trump said, “Oh, please. Please. Don’t be a baby. Okay?” He went on to urge Cochrane to “just take a look at what’s happened.” “Look at the Mexican soldiers laying on the ground. These are hardened—I didn’t say all of them…These are tough, tough people, and I don’t want them and neither does our country want them,” Trump was quoted as saying. The president was apparently referencing clashes at Mexico’s border with Guatemala that broke out Friday as a migrant caravan from Honduras tried to get through. Several police officers and migrants were reportedly injured as migrants tried to push through the gates.

The following October 20 article was posted on the DailyBeast.com website here.

Trump Praises Gianforte for Physically Assaulting Reporter

‘Any guy who can do a body slam — he’s my guy,’ president says

Credit: News Live Insanemrbrain via YouTube screengrab

President Donald Trump on Thursday praised Montana Rep. Greg Gianforte for physically assaulting a reporter on the eve of a special election last year.

Addressing a rally in Missoula on his third trip to Montana this year, Trump at first only alluded to the 2017 incident. “Never wrestle him,” he said after calling Gianforte onstage.

But then the president went further.

View the complete October 18 article by Simone Pathé on the Roll Call website here.

Want to Know More About: Trump’s Treatment of Journalists

Alisyn Camerota: “Amid The Brett Kavanaugh Controversy President Trump Is Under Scrutiny For His Treatment Of Female Journalists.” ALISYN CAMEROTA: “Well, amid the Brett Kavanaugh controversy president Trump is under scrutiny for his treatment of female journalists. Watch this exchange yesterday with ABC’s Cecilia Vega.” [New Day. CNN, 10/2/18; Video]

Margaret Talev: “The Optics Of It Are Seemingly Unfortunate For The President Given, Again, The Moment That We Are Talking About Is A Moment In Which One Of His Judicial Nominees Is Being Questioned About His Respect For Women, You Know, 30 Years Ago.” MARGARET TALEV: “I think it’s entirely possible, entirely plausible that if the first questioner had been a man asking the question he would have gotten exactly the same sort of treatment. The optics of it are seemingly unfortunate for the president given, again, the moment that we are talking about is a moment in which one of his judicial nominees is being questioned about his respect for women, you know, 30 years ago.” [New Day. CNN, 10/2/18; Video]