HTTP 200 OK
Access-Control-Allow-Methods: GET,OPTIONS,HEAD
Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *
Allow: GET, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Link:
<http://pressfreedomtracker.us/api/edge/incidents/?format=api>; rel="first",
<http://pressfreedomtracker.us/api/edge/incidents/?cursor=cj0xJnA9MjAxOS0xMC0yNC01Nzc%3D&format=api>; rel="prev",
<http://pressfreedomtracker.us/api/edge/incidents/?cursor=cD0yMDE5LTA4LTI3LTUxMQ%3D%3D&format=api>; rel="next"
Vary: Accept
[
{
"title": "California journalists sued for ‘hacking’ city’s open Dropbox folder; barred from publishing",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/california-journalists-sued-for-hacking-citys-open-dropbox-folder-barred-from-publishing/",
"first_published_at": "2019-12-23T18:12:26.960064Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-03T23:00:27.067442Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-03T23:00:26.978795Z",
"date": "2019-10-24",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Fullerton",
"longitude": -117.92534,
"latitude": 33.87029,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"83cyx\">In a complaint filed in the California Superior Court of Orange County on Oct. 24, 2019, the city of Fullerton, California, accused a community blog and two contributors of violating anti-hacking laws for accessing confidential files city employees posted online, according to their lawyer Kelly Aviles and court documents reviewed by the Committee to Protect Journalists. Aviles told CPJ in December that the suit could go to a jury trial in early 2020. The press freedom and legal advocacy group Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press <a href=\"https://www.rcfp.org/tech-press-freedom-11-3-2019/\">called</a> the case the “first … we’re aware of where the computer crime laws have been misused so brazenly against members of the news media.”</p><p data-block-key=\"i5x7r\">The city of Fullerton claims that the blog, Friends for Fullerton’s Future, and two of its journalists, Joshua Ferguson and David Curlee, accessed more than a dozen internal documents stored on the file hosting and sharing service Dropbox without permission, according to CPJ’s review. The blog <a href=\"https://www.fullertonsfuture.org/2019/fullerton-police-cut-a-deal-to-bypass-the-law/\">publishes</a> original articles and commentary on the city government and the local police department<i>.</i></p><p data-block-key=\"mgtft\">Aviles alleged, in a phone interview with CPJ, that the case is designed to retaliate against her clients for reporting and to block future publication. She told CPJ she has filed an anti-Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation motion, or SLAPP, which permits courts to dismiss lawsuits that are intended to censor public speech.</p><p data-block-key=\"5bju8\">“The City’s suit was not in retaliation for anything,” Fullerton’s lawyer Kimberly Hall Barlow wrote in an email to CPJ. The blog was not a factor in the decision to bring the case, she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"k2ov1\">“If the argument is that a reporter can steal information him or herself and then be allowed to publish it at will, that is neither consistent with the first amendment law nor the ethical tenets of professional journalists,” she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"irbnn\">Ferguson routinely requested public records, and the city had provided him with a link to the Dropbox folder in the past, he told CPJ. The city acknowledges sending a link to access the folder in response to records requests, according to court filings reviewed by CPJ. The folder was not password protected, and anyone could access it via the web address in the link. Files that were approved for public release were kept in the same folder as others that had not been, some of which were password protected, according to those documents.</p><p data-block-key=\"sth1r\">The complaint said Ferguson and Curlee accessed files in the folder that had not been approved for release, thereby violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, a federal law intended to combat hacking, and a similar state law, the California Comprehensive Computer Data Access and Fraud Act. CPJ has <a href=\"https://cpj.org/blog/2019/06/tech-journalists-troubled-assange-CFAA-charge.php\">reported</a> concerns that the CFAA’s broad wording could be used to punish routine online journalistic activity.</p><p data-block-key=\"p1sgm\">The complaint said the journalists had intentionally obscured their activity using a virtual private network and the Tor browser — digital security tools that CPJ and others routinely <a href=\"https://cpj.org/2019/07/digital-safety-kit-journalists.php\">recommend</a> that journalists use online. The City also requested a forensic analysis of the reporters’ computers and sought prior restraint to block future publication based on the files — a request that RCFP called “concerning” and Aviles called unconstitutional in court documents.</p><p data-block-key=\"0yk4g\">In November, a trial court in Orange County did not allow that forensic examination, according to Aviles, while an appeals court <a href=\"https://appellatecases.courtinfo.ca.gov/search/case/dockets.cfm?dist=43&doc_id=2302187&doc_no=G058506&request_token=OCIwLSIkTkg9WzBZSCItUEtIUFw7UFxbJiBeUzpSXDtOCg%3D%3D\">stayed</a> the attempt to block future publication in December. But the anti-hacking lawsuit against the blog is ongoing, Aviles told CPJ.</p><p data-block-key=\"m3dhh\">“The city is calling me a hacker and a thief,” Ferguson told CPJ in December. Yet, he said, “the idea they are presenting — that hacking is just clicking a link — that idea would literally break the internet if broadly applied.”</p><p data-block-key=\"e2kak\">“The conduct that the City complains of is no more criminal than clicking through the City’s website, finding confidential information, and downloading it,” Aviles wrote in court filings reviewed by CPJ. The city’s lawsuit is in “retaliation for Mr. Ferguson’s CPRA lawsuit and to silence the Blog,” she wrote. Immediately before the city launched its lawsuit, Ferguson had filed a California Public Records Act lawsuit requesting the release of documents related to alleged police misconduct, he told CPJ.</p><p data-block-key=\"u2q86\">Kimberly Hall Barlow told CPJ that the city decided to file their suit before Ferguson filed his.</p><p data-block-key=\"gohk6\">Ferguson told CPJ that the city’s complaint included Christopher Tennyson, his former co-worker at a local camera store where they sometimes shared the same computer, in order to damage Ferguson’s professional relationships. Kimberly Hall Barlow denied this, noting to CPJ that the city later dropped Tennyson from the suit.</p><p data-block-key=\"p9yw5\">Aviles said the case was draining her clients’ financial resources and impeding their ability to continue reporting.</p><p data-block-key=\"jhjz4\">“It would be hard for a large newspaper to deal with this,” Aviles told CPJ in November. “But for a blog of concerned citizen journalists — who felt like there was no voice in their community — it’s an outrageous thing to face.”</p><p data-block-key=\"s0nbw\">RCFP <a href=\"https://www.rcfp.org/briefs-comments/friends-for-fullertons-future/\">filed</a> an amicus brief in support of the bloggers, as <a href=\"https://www.rcfp.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/G058506-Fullerton-amicus-brief-of-EFF.pdf\">did</a> the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a leading U.S. digital rights group. The editorial board of the local <i>Orange County Register</i> newspaper published an <a href=\"https://www.ocregister.com/2019/11/13/fullerton-off-base-in-targeting-local-blog/\">editorial</a> in November asking the city to drop the case and “get some professional advice on how to password-protect its files.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": null,
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": "dropped",
"mistakenly_released_materials": true,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [
"(2021-05-12 13:59:00+00:00) City drops lawsuit against bloggers it accused of hacking documents",
"(2020-03-12 11:30:00+00:00) Judge denies motion to dismiss under anti-SLAPP law"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"Friends for Fullerton’s Future"
],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Prior Restraint"
],
"targeted_journalists": [],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "White House plans to instruct federal agencies to cancel subscriptions to two major news outlets",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/white-house-plans-instruct-federal-agencies-cancel-subscriptions-two-major-news-outlets/",
"first_published_at": "2019-11-06T17:55:27.651760Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-02-29T19:50:01.397295Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-02-29T19:50:01.309208Z",
"date": "2019-10-24",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"xok7v\">The White House announced that President Donald Trump plans to instruct federal agencies to not renew their subscriptions to The New York Times and the Washington Post, as <a href=\"https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-to-tell-federal-agencies-to-cut-new-york-times-washington-post-subscriptions-11571937831?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=1\">reported</a> by the Wall Street Journal on Oct. 24, 2019.</p><p data-block-key=\"0mf12\">Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham told the Journal, “Not renewing subscriptions across all federal agencies will be a significant cost saving—hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars will be saved.”</p><p data-block-key=\"z9ufa\">Grisham did not provide additional details, such as how many subscriptions the federal government currently has, how the White House intends to compel agencies to cancel the subscriptions and when the order would take effect.</p><p data-block-key=\"h9lc3\">The decision came less than a week after Trump said during an interview on Fox News that the Times wasn’t wanted in the White House anymore.</p><p data-block-key=\"5lbw0\">“We’re going to probably terminate that and the Washington Post. They’re fake,” Trump added.</p><p data-block-key=\"sf6q9\">Neither the Times or the Post communications departments responded to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"9zlsf\">Jennifer Jacobs, a senior White House correspondent for Bloomberg, tweeted that the White House followed through with the President’s threat and that Oct. 22 was the last day physical copies of those newspapers were delivered.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">White House says it’s going to do things and doesn’t always follow through, but NYT and WaPo subscriptions were ended. <br><br>Some aides privately expressing regret. But doubt Trump will stop reading either.<br><br>WaPo *online* subscription remains. <br><br>WH still gets WSJ, Hill, NY Post etc. <a href=\"https://t.co/1H3lzdBtYM\">pic.twitter.com/1H3lzdBtYM</a></p>— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/JenniferJJacobs/status/1187383175741431808?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 24, 2019</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"vortz\">Jonathan Karl, president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, <a href=\"https://apnews.com/129baf8e83824dcfb75c3f4e6533582c\">told The Associated Press</a>, “I have no doubt the hardworking reporters of The New York Times and Washington Post will continue to do quality journalism, regardless of whether the president acknowledges he reads them. Pretending to ignore the work of a free press won’t make the news go away or stop reporters from informing the public and holding those in power accountable.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2ey1s\">Axios <a href=\"https://www.axios.com/trump-new-york-times-washington-post-apps-7abddada-20d6-4707-8c96-ed83fc2f4c3c.html\">reported</a> that sources familiar with the president’s iPhone confirmed that Trump has not deleted the Times and the Post’s cellphone apps, maintaining digital access to the two newspapers.</p><p data-block-key=\"wcaau\">Trump’s “fake news” rhetoric has trickled down to the local level. The same day the White House said it would instruct federal agencies to not renew subscriptions, <a href=\"http://citruscountyfl.iqm2.com/Citizens/SplitView.aspx?Mode=Video&MeetingID=2453&Format=Minutes\">county commissioners in Florida denied</a> local librarians’ request for funds to provide their roughly 70,000 patrons with digital access to the Times. The Citrus County Chronicle <a href=\"https://www.chronicleonline.com/news/local/read-all-about-it-county-says-no-to-ny-times/article_4acceeca-f76a-11e9-932e-7fec20f83a0b.html\">reported</a> that when the request came before the commission, the officials laughed aloud.</p><p data-block-key=\"omo8q\">Commissioner Scott Carnahan also called the newspaper “fake news.”</p><p data-block-key=\"rijsn\">“I agree with President Trump,” he said. “I will not be voting for this. I don’t want The New York Times in this county.”</p><p data-block-key=\"hg093\">All five members of the commission agreed to reject the library’s request. The Chronicle reported that it spoke to four of them and commissioners Brian Coleman and Chairman Jeff Kinnard cited concerns that approving the request would lead to requests for subscriptions to more “radical publications.” Coleman also said, “I support President Trump. I would say they put stuff in there that’s not necessarily verified.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTS1SWY1.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"jvwcb\">President Donald Trump speaks to the media in this 2018 file photo. Trump said in a Fox News interview recently that he wanted to keep specific newspapers out of the White House.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"The New York Times",
"The Washington Post"
],
"tags": [
"Donald Trump"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Chilling Statement"
],
"targeted_journalists": [],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Reporter says White House senior adviser threatened to ‘delve’ into her personal life",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/washington-examiner-reporter-says-white-house-senior-adviser-threatened-delve-her-personal-life/",
"first_published_at": "2019-11-08T21:03:14.738084Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-25T19:42:54.588447Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-11-25T19:42:54.496200Z",
"date": "2019-10-23",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"5y5r0\">Caitlin Yilek, a breaking news reporter for the Washington Examiner, <a href=\"https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/powerful-woman-kellyanne-conway-mocks-and-threatens-reporter-for-mentioning-her-husband-audio/\">wrote</a> that she was berated and threatened by top White House senior adviser Kellyanne Conway during a phone call on Oct. 23, 2019.</p><p data-block-key=\"nli6w\">Yilek had published an article the day before about President Donald Trump considering Conway as his next chief of staff; Yilek included details about the feud between the president and Conway’s husband, George Conway. Tom Joannou, Conway’s assistant, contacted Yilek that evening asking for her phone number.</p><p data-block-key=\"qvkiy\">The morning of Oct. 23, Joannou called and requested that their conversation be off the record, but moments later Conway took over the call, initiating a new, on-the-record conversation. Conway appeared to be furious with the reporter’s coverage, and berated Yilek for what she classified as lazy, irrelevant and sexist reporting.</p><p data-block-key=\"bov3r\">In a <a href=\"https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/transcript-of-telephone-call-between-kellyanne-conway-and-caitlin-yilek\">transcript</a> of the call published by the Examiner, Conway says, “So, I just am wondering why in God’s earth you would need to mention anything about George Conway’s tweets in an article that talks about me as possibly being chief of staff. Other than it looks to me like there’s no original reporting here, you just read Twitter and other people’s stuff, which I guess is why you don’t pick up the phone when people call from the White House because, if it’s not on Twitter or it’s not on cable TV, it’s not real.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2bti2\">Conway also accused Yilek of “trying to undercut another woman based on who she’s married to,” and dismissed Yilek’s explanations of why information about George Conway was considered important contextual information.</p><p data-block-key=\"shwpv\">Near the end of the call, Conway said: “Listen, if you’re going to cover my personal life, then we’re welcome to do the same around here.” Yilek <a href=\"https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/powerful-woman-kellyanne-conway-mocks-and-threatens-reporter-for-mentioning-her-husband-audio/\">later characterized</a> the statement as a threat that “the White House would delve into the personal lives of reporters if they wrote about her husband.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9i1tu\">Conway disputed Yilek’s version of events, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/KellyannePolls/status/1187502654026604547?s=20\">saying in a lengthy statement</a>, “What I said on that call I’ve said publicly on-the-record before, including on TV, in speeches, in driveway gaggles with reporters. I did NOT indicate the call was off-the-record, but the reporter certainly thought it was.”</p><p data-block-key=\"io33l\">Neither Conway nor Yilek responded to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"vjukn\">In <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/politics/kellyanne-conway-calls-reporter-lazy-after-story-sparks-controversy/2019/10/25/cf7db852-608d-456c-9a0b-811d6dbba0da_video.html\">a video published by The Washington Post</a>, a reporter asked Conway to clarify what she meant by “cover her personal life.” Conway responded, “Right, so, don’t use the word ‘threaten’ and don’t use the word ‘investigate’ and stop being so silly.” She did not, however, elaborate on her original intent with the statement to Yilek.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTS2SSRY.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"cr5vm\">White House senior advisor Kellyanne Conway speaks to reporters at the White House in October. REUTERS/Tom Brenner</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Donald Trump"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Chilling Statement"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Caitlin Yilek (Washington Examiner)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Former House Speaker Gingrich says, if he could, he would eliminate the White House press corps",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/former-house-speaker-gingrich-says-if-he-could-he-would-eliminate-white-house-press-corps/",
"first_published_at": "2019-11-20T19:13:23.200951Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-04-06T17:23:49.524653Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-04-06T17:23:49.476521Z",
"date": "2019-10-21",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"pjet6\">Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich said during a CBS News interview on Oct. 21, 2019, that he would eliminate the White House press corps if he had the authority to do so.</p><p data-block-key=\"pdzo9\">While Gingrich <a href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/news/newt-gingrich-former-speaker-reporters-white-house-today-2019-10-21/\">appeared on CBSN Monday</a> to promote his new book, he was asked by anchor Vladimir Duthiers whether he would have given a press briefing like Mick Mulvaney did if he were chief of staff. The previous week, Mulvaney gave a news conference during which he appeared to admit that President Donald Trump had asked for help investigating a political rival in exchange for releasing military aid for Ukraine.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">.<a href=\"https://twitter.com/newtgingrich?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@NewtGingrich</a> on advising Pres. Trump and Mick Mulvaney before Mulvaney's quid pro quo remarks during WH briefing: "If I had had the ability to do it, there wouldn't be a White House press corps in the White House." <a href=\"https://t.co/g1VHZ94AH7\">https://t.co/g1VHZ94AH7</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/ypMzH0AKkE\">pic.twitter.com/ypMzH0AKkE</a></p>— CBS News (@CBSNews) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/CBSNews/status/1186298186035617793?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 21, 2019</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"xincl\">Gingrich responded, "If I had had the ability to do it, there wouldn't be a White House press corps in the White House.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ldlkv\">"Why is that?" asked CBSN anchor Anne-Marie Green.</p><p data-block-key=\"r0i39\">“They’re all enemies of the president,” Gingrich said. “Why would you call on people who get up every morning saying, ‘I hate Donald Trump. I wonder how I can make his life miserable’?”</p><p data-block-key=\"9il6n\">Green interjected that press briefings are opportunities for the president to speak to the people. Gingrich dismissed that characterization, echoing <a href=\"https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-white-house-held-traditional-press-briefing-months/story?id=65509975\">the sentiments of White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham</a> when she said she was not planning to resume regular press briefings.</p><p data-block-key=\"zfe6b\">“The president can speak to the people anytime,” Gingrich said. “He doesn’t need to speak to a bunch of reporters who are then going to be distorted by their editors.”</p><p data-block-key=\"u5e5h\">The Hill <a href=\"https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/466797-gingrich-calls-for-eliminating-white-house-press-corps-in-wake-of\">reported</a> that Gingrich made similar comments in May 2017. According to The Hill’s <a href=\"https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/333244-gingrich-urges-trump-close-down-the-press-room\">reporting at the time</a>, Gingrich called on Trump to follow through on his threat to cancel the daily press briefings and advised him to treat the news media as “dishonest opponents pretending to be reporters.”</p><p data-block-key=\"cxog6\">Grisham and her press secretary predecessor, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, have effectively ended the daily White House press briefings. In January, <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/trump-stops-regular-press-briefings-citing-unfair-media-treatment/\">Trump tweeted</a> that the lack of regular briefings was the result of directions he gave to Sanders. ABC News <a href=\"https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-white-house-held-traditional-press-briefing-months/story?id=65509975\">reported</a> that Wednesday, Sept. 11 marked six months since the White House held a traditional briefing.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTSSPP8.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"a97j6\">Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich speaks to the media in New York in this 2016 file photo.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"White House Press Corps"
],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Chilling Statement"
],
"targeted_journalists": [],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Astros fire assistant general manager for inappropriate comments to reporters",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/astros-fire-assistant-general-manager-inappropriate-comments-reporters/",
"first_published_at": "2019-11-13T21:08:26.666664Z",
"last_published_at": "2019-11-13T21:08:26.666664Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2019-11-13T21:08:26.592381Z",
"date": "2019-10-19",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Houston",
"longitude": -95.36327,
"latitude": 29.76328,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p>The Houston Astros fired Brandon Taubman, the baseball team's assistant general manager, on Oct. 24, 2019, after Taubman made improper comments toward female reporters about a team member accused of domestic violence.</p><p>On Oct. 19, during celebrations in the Astros clubhouse following the team's victory over the New York Yankees to win the American League pennant, Taubman yelled “Thank God we got Osuna! I’m so f------ glad we got Osuna!” directing his comments at three female reporters nearby, one of whom was wearing a purple rubber domestic violence-awareness bracelet.</p><p>Pitcher Roberto Osuna was a Toronto Blue Jay when he was suspended without pay for 75 games during the 2018 season for violating Major League Baseball's domestic violence policy. Osuna had been accused of assaulting the mother of his three-year-old child. The Astros hired Osuna near the end of that suspension despite having a "zero tolerance policy" against domestic violence, drawing widespread criticism.</p><p>Sports Illustrated's Stephanie Apstein, one of the reporters at whom Taubman directed his remarks, published a<a href=\"https://www.si.com/mlb/2019/10/22/houston-astros-roberto-osuna-suspension\"> story</a> on Oct. 21 describing Taubman's outburst and putting it in broader context.</p><p>"The outburst was offensive and frightening enough that another Houston staffer apologized. The Astros declined to comment. They also declined to make Taubman available for an interview," she wrote. "Taubman's timing was odd," Apstein continued, as Osuna had not performed well that evening. "He had been, by Baseball Reference’s calculations and any intelligent observer’s assessment, the least valuable Astro that night. So why would Taubman choose that moment, to taunt that demographic? It’s not hard to figure out."</p><p>But for his arrest for domestic violence, Osuna would likely have never become an Astro, Apstein continued. "Osuna was one of the best closers in the game, and his infraction made him, in the mind of the Astros’ front office, a distressed asset. They traded for him, and in terms of traditional organizational capital, the price was low: the Astros gave up their own struggling closer and two middling pitching prospects for him," she wrote. "But the price was low for a reason: Many teams didn’t want to deal with the public backlash for acquiring Osuna."</p><p>The Houston Chronicle reported that Taubman’s comments were directed at one particular female reporter. “In casual conversations at the end of the 2018 season, Taubman complained about the reporter to multiple people,” the Chronicle <a href=\"https://www.houstonchronicle.com/sports/astros/article/Astros-GM-Jeff-Luhnow-describes-different-14557067.php?utm_source=article&utm_campaign=AOA\">reported</a>, without naming the individual in question.</p><p>After Apstein's story was published, the Astros put out a statement accusing the reporter of fabrication: "The story posted by Sports Illustrated is misleading and completely irresponsible," the<a href=\"https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EHcvIdRXkAAm7Rx.jpg\"> statement</a> began, attributing Taubman's comments to "the game situation that had just occurred and nothing else -- they were also not directed toward any specific reporters. We are extremely disappointed in Sports Illustrated's attempts to fabricate a story where one does not exist."</p><p>Sports Illustrated came to Apstein's defense in a<a href=\"http://si.com/mlb/2019/10/22/sports-illustrated-statement-response-astros-story\"> statement</a> the next day: "Sports Illustrated unequivocally stands behind Apstein, her reporting and the story, which was subsequently corroborated by several other media members present at the scene. Any implication that SI or any of its journalists would ‘fabricate’ a story in its detail or intent is both disappointing and completely inexcusable."</p><p>Two days later, on Oct. 24, the Astros fired Taubman and tweeted out a mea culpa:</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"und\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https://t.co/pFBOZPI0E3\">pic.twitter.com/pFBOZPI0E3</a></p>— Houston Astros (@astros) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/astros/status/1187487537503318016?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 24, 2019</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p>Team owner Jim Crane on Oct. 26 sent a short<a href=\"https://twitter.com/stephapstein/status/1188501342756769793\"> letter</a> to Apstein admitting fault, writing, "We were wrong and I am sorry that we initially questioned your professionalism."</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTS2RYJ1.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p>A view of Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas, where the Astros beat the New York Yankees in six games for baseball’s American League pennant on Oct. 19, 2019.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Texas",
"abbreviation": "TX"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": null,
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Other Incident"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Stephanie Apstein (Sports Illustrated)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Trump’s anti-press language on Twitter mirrored in violent video created by supporter",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/trumps-anti-press-language-on-twitter-mirrored-in-violent-video-created-by-supporter/",
"first_published_at": "2019-10-15T20:32:22.755844Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-03-11T14:59:23.239802Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-03-11T14:59:23.168577Z",
"date": "2019-10-19",
"exact_date_unknown": true,
"city": "Miami",
"longitude": -80.19366,
"latitude": 25.77427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ewwk9\">More than half of the news outlets depicted in a graphic fake video of President Donald Trump assaulting his critics have also been singled out in anti-press tweets published by the president.</p><p data-block-key=\"9zhwh\">In a video <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/13/us/politics/trump-video.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share\">shared</a> with The New York Times over the weekend, a fake Trump in a pinstripe suit rampages through a church, shooting, stabbing and assaulting those in the pews, many of whom bear the faces of his political opponents, critics and journalists. As Trump massacres his way through the “Church of Fake News,” the faces of two media figures and the logos of <a href=\"https://twitter.com/jbenton/status/1183754027651227653\">at least 23 news organizations</a> are superimposed on his victims, ranging from Bloomberg and NPR to HuffPost and BuzzFeed, from The Guardian to PBS.</p><p data-block-key=\"0ysfg\">The video was played at one point during a pro-Trump conference from Oct. 10–12, 2019, at the president’s hotel and golf resort near Miami, but has been circulating across the internet since at least July 2018, <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/14/tech/fake-trump-video-youtube-response/index.html\">according to</a> CNN.</p><p data-block-key=\"tc1x6\">Following the Times’ publication and amid national outcry, White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham posted a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/PressSec/status/1183720685027368960\">tweet</a> stating that the president had not yet seen the edited scene. “But based upon everything he has heard, he strongly condemns this video,” Grisham wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"55hk9\">As of publication, Trump has not personally condemned the video.</p><p data-block-key=\"x4op3\">A <a href=\"https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1uNA6nsgcRhhQ0b6USsMNzhYLMfuDRSMhbGZNZ00WkHk/edit#gid=0\">database of Trump’s negative tweets</a> about the press, compiled by U.S. Press Freedom Tracker reporter Stephanie Sugars, finds that 11% of all of his tweets since declaring his candidacy contain negative language about news organizations, specific journalists and the media as a whole.</p><p data-block-key=\"iaqam\">To date, 13 of the news organizations represented in the video have been mentioned by name in his anti-press tweets.</p><p data-block-key=\"d6kqe\">According to <a href=\"https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1uNA6nsgcRhhQ0b6USsMNzhYLMfuDRSMhbGZNZ00WkHk/edit#gid=0\">the database</a>, CNN has been directly mentioned in 215 such tweets, NBC in 124 and The Washington Post in 107.</p><p data-block-key=\"d4zbp\">Over the years, Trump has referred to NBC staff as “<a href=\"https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1172858577951821825\">losers</a>,” “<a href=\"https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1148016423735836674\">degenerate… Trump haters</a>,” “<a href=\"https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1083207607412760576\">crazy</a>” and “<a href=\"https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/832708293516632065\">the enemy of the American People</a>,” and has <a href=\"https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1036991866124861440\">implied</a> that the station’s broadcasting license should be reevaluated or revoked.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">.<a href=\"https://twitter.com/politico?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@politico</a> covers me more inaccurately than any other media source, and that is saying something. They go out of their way to distort truth!</p>— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/635175769069723648?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 22, 2015</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"t625r\">Politico has been featured in 19 of the president’s anti-press tweets, CBS in 16 and Univision in eight.</p><p data-block-key=\"fhas0\">In August 2015, Trump <a href=\"https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/635175769069723648\">tweeted</a>, “[Politico] covers me more inaccurately than any other media source, and that is saying something.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fbyir\">In a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/whca/status/1183584200114495488\">statement released on Twitter</a>, White House Correspondents’ Association President Jonathan Karl of ABC News expressed horror at the video: “We have previously told the President his rhetoric could incite violence. Now we call on him and everybody associated with this conference to denounce this video and affirm that violence has no place in our society,” Karl said.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">WHCA Statement on video depicting President Trump murdering journalists. <a href=\"https://t.co/52lHFaQjU2\">pic.twitter.com/52lHFaQjU2</a></p>— WHCA (@whca) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/whca/status/1183584200114495488?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 14, 2019</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"5ifl5\">ABC News, which the video depicts being shot in the head by the president, has been featured in 48 of the president’s anti-press tweets.</p><p data-block-key=\"ka91o\">The two journalists clearly identifiable in the video—Mika Brzezinski and Rachel Maddow, both of MSNBC—have also been featured in Trump’s negative tweets about the press. Trump has directly targeted Maddow four times and Brzezinski 13 times, referring to her as “<a href=\"https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/767683204039974912\">a neurotic and not very bright mess</a>” and a “<a href=\"https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1160665444619100160\">very angry Psycho</a>.”</p><p data-block-key=\"f8l9p\">The Times <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/13/us/politics/trump-video.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share\">reported</a> that the video’s creation and display at the conference demonstrates how Trump’s anti-press language has influenced his supporters and political allies.</p><p data-block-key=\"1362h\">Trump has tweeted and retweeted similar videos in both tone and content—albeit less violent—in the past. In 2017, he received condemnation from media outlets and press freedom advocates after he <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/trump-tweets-video-him-wrestling-cnn/\">posted a video</a> of himself participating in WrestleMania, edited to have the CNN logo replacing the face of the man he body slams and beats up.</p><p data-block-key=\"ke276\">On Sept. 6 of this year, he <a href=\"https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1170089069105340416\">tweeted</a> a video that ended with the CNN logo, photoshopped onto an out-of-control vehicle, crashing and bursting into flames.</p><p data-block-key=\"wdosj\">Despite the news about the video’s placement at the conference breaking over the weekend, Trump has continued to use negative language against the press on social media. Since Sunday, he has posted at least 11 more tweets attacking the media, including ABC News and CNN—both of which were depicted in the graphic video—along with The Times and Fox News’ Chris Wallace and Brian Kilmeade.</p><p data-block-key=\"lyj9p\"><a href=\"https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1uNA6nsgcRhhQ0b6USsMNzhYLMfuDRSMhbGZNZ00WkHk/edit?usp=sharing\"><i>Explore the live U.S. Press Freedom Tracker database tracking these tweets—including tweets by year, primary target, and terms like "fake news"—here.</i></a></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Screenshot_175.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"m7wd7\">A highly-edited video showing a fake President Donald Trump violently murdering opponents, critics and news organizations was reportedly shown during a pro-Trump conference at one of his hotels in Florida.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Florida",
"abbreviation": "FL"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"Media"
],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Other Incident"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Mika Brzezinski (MSNBC)",
"Rachel Maddow (MSNBC)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Journalist alleges bodyguard pushed, assaulted him outside San Francisco courthouse",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-alleges-bodyguard-pushed-assaulted-him-outside-san-francisco-courthouse/",
"first_published_at": "2019-11-15T18:46:44.428721Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-02-06T21:28:05.712651Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-02-06T21:28:05.627117Z",
"date": "2019-10-15",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "San Francisco",
"longitude": -122.41942,
"latitude": 37.77493,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"z8b66\">Multimedia journalist Phelim McAleer told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was assaulted by a bodyguard for Planned Parenthood outside of a San Francisco courthouse on Oct. 15, 2019.</p><p data-block-key=\"mh7pd\">McAleer said he was attempting to interview Dr. Mary Gatter, who had just finished testifying in Planned Parenthood’s suit against activist David Daleiden.</p><p data-block-key=\"ngboj\">Footage of the incident posted to McAleer's YouTube channel shows McAleer asking questions of Gatter as she walks toward an SUV waiting on the side of the street. As he appears to move around Gatter’s bodyguard to continue asking questions, the man pushes McAleer backward repeatedly. In the video, McAleer is heard shouting, “You’re assaulting me! Get your hands off me!”</p><p data-block-key=\"x0kru\">McAleer told the Tracker that the bodyguard shoved and pushed him before jabbing him in the ribs. McAleer called the police who, according to a summary of the police report shared with the Tracker, were dispatched to the courthouse just before noon.</p><p data-block-key=\"ju8qi\">“Officers met with an adult male victim (investigative Journalist) who stated that he was assaulted by an adult male while trying to interview a witness,” Public Information Officer Joseph Tomlinson shared over email. “Officers reviewed the surveillance footage of the incident and did not see a battery of the victim.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5vdqi\">In regards to the police determination that he was not assaulted, McAleer said, “I think they looked at a confusing situation on my phone and made a snap judgement.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/McAleer.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"9ro9l\">Multimedia journalist Phelim McAleer filed a police report alleging assault outside of a San Francisco courthouse.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "private security",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Phelim McAleer (Independent)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Documentarian questioned about film when returning from West Bank",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/documentarian-questioned-about-film-when-returning-from-west-bank/",
"first_published_at": "2023-11-09T18:38:32.162531Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-11-09T18:45:44.552707Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-11-09T18:45:44.456526Z",
"date": "2019-10-10",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Dallas",
"longitude": -96.80667,
"latitude": 32.78306,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ujzf8\">Independent filmmaker Michael Rowley was questioned about his documentary work on the lives of young Palestinian men upon arriving at the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport in Texas on Oct. 10, 2019.</p><p data-block-key=\"5temp\">Rowley told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he had flown to Tel Aviv, Israel, to attend a screening in the West Bank city of Ramallah for his debut documentary “<a href=\"https://www.hurdlefilm.com/\">Hurdle</a>.” After landing back in the United States, the automated machines at U.S. Customs flagged his picture with a black “X,” requiring him to report to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent for further screening.</p><p data-block-key=\"o48k\">After sitting in a waiting room for 30 minutes, Rowley said an agent who did not identify himself directed him into an interview room for questioning. The plainclothes officer had the documentary’s website pulled up on a screen in view of Rowley and questioned him for about an hour before he was released.</p><p data-block-key=\"3s0fm\">The official asked him about why he was interested in Palestine, what the film was about and whether Israeli security forces had any issues with him making the documentary. “This U.S. official then asked me specific questions about the content of my documentary film, the characters in it and my methods for making the film,” Rowley said.</p><p data-block-key=\"639b8\">He added that he was specifically asked to identify one of the men who appeared in the film’s trailer and about why he had submitted endorsements for the visa applications of the documentary’s three main characters so they could attend the U.S. premiere.</p><p data-block-key=\"7hc75\">He was also questioned about a past layover in Moscow, Russia, and whether he had a meeting with anyone while there.</p><p data-block-key=\"5kbma\">Rowley was stopped for secondary screening <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/documentarian-questioned-again-when-returning-from-film-festival/\">again in March 2023</a> when returning from a trip to Denmark. He was questioned about his journalistic work, with an officer informing him that he was in their system “due to someone he had filmed with.”</p><p data-block-key=\"a13oq\">Rowley told the Tracker that he filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Traveler Redress Inquiry Program in April 2023 after speaking with an attorney from the ACLU in an effort to prevent further security screenings.</p><p data-block-key=\"328i0\">“It is clear from the questions that CBP officials have asked me that I am being singled out for questioning and additional security screening due to my First Amendment-protected journalistic and filmmaking activities,” Rowley wrote in his complaint, which asks that he be removed from any watchlist that he may have been added to.</p><p data-block-key=\"bfti9\">Rowley told the Tracker in November 2023 that during the two trips that he has taken since, he has not been stopped for additional security or questioning, but that his experiences had affected his reporting.</p><p data-block-key=\"cihhc\">“I was in the early stages of working on a new documentary here in Dallas, which I decided to put on hiatus indefinitely because of the realization of being on a watchlist and for fear of bringing government attention to the characters in the film,” Rowley said. “It certainly had a chilling effect on me and my work.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Rowley_PalestineCinemaDays.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"xzgdp\">Documentary filmmaker Michael Rowley, seen here at the West Bank screening of his film “Hurdle,” was questioned about the film, methods of filming it and the characters in it upon returning to the United States on Oct. 10, 2019.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": "Dallas Fort Worth International Airport",
"target_us_citizenship_status": "U.S. citizen",
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": "no",
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": "yes",
"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Texas",
"abbreviation": "TX"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [
"United States"
],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Border Stop"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Michael Rowley (Independent)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Counterterrorism analyst charged with leaking classified documents to two reporters",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/counterterrorism-analyst-charged-leaking-classified-documents-two-reporters/",
"first_published_at": "2019-10-10T17:59:34.197701Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-01-18T18:42:04.641361Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-01-18T18:42:04.544259Z",
"date": "2019-10-09",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Alexandria",
"longitude": -77.04692,
"latitude": 38.80484,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"7vvsn\">Henry Kyle Frese, a counterterrorism analyst for the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, was arrested when he arrived at work on Oct. 9, 2019, accused of leaking classified information about a foreign country’s weapons systems to two journalists.</p><p data-block-key=\"aq2ye\">Frese has been charged under the Espionage Act with two counts of willful transmission of national defense information, and could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted on both counts, the Justice Department <a href=\"https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/defense-intelligence-agency-employee-arrested-leaking-classified-information-journalists\">announced</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"qg9tx\">The Justice Department <a href=\"https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1207916/download\">indictment</a> details alleged contact with two journalists dating back to April 2018, at least some of which took place over Twitter direct messaging. Officials also allege that Frese was in a romantic relationship with one of the journalists, citing their shared home address from August 2017 to August 2018.</p><p data-block-key=\"qy21b\">In a <a href=\"https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/defense-intelligence-agency-employee-arrested-leaking-classified-information-journalists\">statement</a> announcing the indictment, Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Demers said, “Frese was caught red-handed disclosing sensitive national security information for personal gain.” The indictment alleges that Frese accessed at least three classified intelligence reports unrelated to his job and discussed their contents with the reporters.</p><p data-block-key=\"fb84r\">The Wall Street Journal <a href=\"https://www.wsj.com/articles/counterterrorism-analyst-arrested-for-leaking-to-two-journalists-11570644872\">reported</a> that while the reporters to whom Frese is accused of leaking are not named in the indictment, details suggest that the journalists are Amanda Macias, a national security reporter for CNBC, and Courtney Kube, a national security and Pentagon correspondent for NBC.</p><p data-block-key=\"seox2\">The indictment alleges that the first journalist, believed to be Macias, urged Frese to pass additional top secret information to one of her colleagues, and he agreed to do so to help advance her career. The indictment says cellphone surveillance from Sept. 24, 2019, caught Frese communicating national defense information to the second reporter, believed to be Kube.</p><p data-block-key=\"s442r\">In <a href=\"https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1207911/download\">an affidavit</a> supporting the seizure of Frese’s phone records, FBI Special Agent Donny Kim wrote, “There is probable cause to believe Frese committed violations of Title 18, United States Code, Section 793(d) and (e), willful transmission of national defense information.” These sections are more commonly known as part of the Espionage Act.</p><p data-block-key=\"z4y80\">Frese is the<a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/leak-case/?categories=7\"> eighth person to be investigated</a> by President Trump’s Justice Department for allegedly sharing confidential information with the press. The Trump administration is on pace to surpass the Obama administration’s record of the most prosecutions of alleged journalistic sources. During President Obama’s two terms in office, the Department of Justice brought<a href=\"https://freedom.press/news/obama-used-espionage-act-put-record-number-reporters-sources-jail-and-trump-could-be-even-worse/\"> charges against eight people</a> accused of leaking to the media.</p><p data-block-key=\"zbm7l\">Carlos Martínez de la Serna, program director for the Committee to Protect Journalists, said in a statement that these prosecutions can have a chilling effect.</p><p data-block-key=\"uyfm0\">"Prosecuting a civil servant under the Espionage Act puts leaking information of interest to the American people on a par with spying for a foreign county," Martínez de la Serna said.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTS2QHOQ.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"c6l6u\">A police booking mugshot released by the sheriff’s office in Alexandria, Virginia, shows U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency analyst Henry Kyle Frese after his arrest on charges of leaking classified materials to journalists.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": true,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Virginia",
"abbreviation": "VA"
},
"updates": [
"(2020-06-18 16:23:00+00:00) Former counterterrorism analyst sentenced to over two years in prison for leaking classified documents",
"(2020-02-20 15:18:00+00:00) Former counterterrorism analyst pleads guilty to leaking classified documents to two reporters"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [
"Amanda Macias (CNBC)",
"Courtney Kube (NBC)"
],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Department of Justice",
"Espionage Act"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Leak Case"
],
"targeted_journalists": [],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Independent prisons reporter removed from Alabama government press lists",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-prisons-reporter-removed-from-alabama-government-press-lists/",
"first_published_at": "2022-02-03T16:23:00.225232Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-12-21T16:45:53.034505Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-12-21T16:45:52.948819Z",
"date": "2019-10-08",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Birmingham",
"longitude": -86.80249,
"latitude": 33.52066,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"bbjm8\">Independent reporter Beth Shelburne was notified of her removal from the Alabama Department of Corrections press distribution list on Oct. 8, 2019, on the basis that Shelburne did not work for an “accredited news organization." Shelburne alleged that it was in retaliation for her reporting and opinion pieces.</p><p data-block-key=\"6j1a0\">Birmingham-based Shelburne told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in January 2022 that she has been covering prisons in the state since 2012. After leaving her position at WBRC FOX6 News in July 2019, she said she was able to have her new email address added to the ADOC press distribution list.</p><p data-block-key=\"fcsfr\">That August, she wrote an op-ed criticizing the department’s funeral for a K-9 officer killed in a contraband raid. After the piece was published she stopped receiving regular press releases from the department.</p><p data-block-key=\"e6s8r\">Following the death of an inmate in early October, Shelburne said she tried to receive confirmation and comment from the department’s communication director, Linda Mays, who told her to check the ADOC website or submit a formal records request. When AL.com, the largest digital news site in the state, published a story about the death which included the information she had requested, Shelburne asked Mays why she had responded to questions from that outlet but not to hers.</p><p data-block-key=\"71lcv\">“She responded that they had revised their media policy and the public affairs office would only respond to journalists with ‘accredited’ news organizations and those would be the only reporters on their press distribution list,” Shelburne told the Tracker. “I realized that this was retaliation for the critical op-ed I had published.”</p><p data-block-key=\"feab3\">The <a href=\"http://www.doc.state.al.us/docs/AdminRegs/AR005.pdf\">policy</a> Mays cited went into effect in October 2004 and describes “news media” as almost exclusively traditional and legacy media outlets — namely broadcast, radio and print outlets — and does not include any reference to freelance journalists or digital media outlets. The policy and definitions do not appear to have been revised since 2004.</p><p data-block-key=\"dfiho\">Mays and the ADOC press office did not respond to an emailed request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"ea5hm\">Shelburne <a href=\"https://twitter.com/bshelburne/status/1182108886033154049\">tweeted</a> about her removal on Oct. 9, 2019, and included a screenshot of the email from Mays, which asserted that she was a member of the public, not a journalist.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I asked ADOC why they answered another reporter's questions but not mine. Hours later, they informed me that my questions are no longer good enough to be answered. In more than 2 decades of reporting, this has never happened. Transparency as clear as a mountain of bullshit. <a href=\"https://t.co/Bu3eyZPh8A\">pic.twitter.com/Bu3eyZPh8A</a></p>— Beth Shelburne (@bshelburne) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/bshelburne/status/1182108892710543360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 10, 2019</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"bbjm8\">“That was the tweet that kind of went viral and the next day I received a call from Gov. [Kay] Ivey’s press secretary and she told me that somebody from the Department of Corrections would be reaching out to me and that this would be remedied,” Shelburne said. “And in fact the commissioner of prisons called me and apologized.”</p><p data-block-key=\"c9a53\">Then-ADOC Commissioner Jeff Dunn told her that she had been removed in error and would be readded to the press list, Shelburne told the Tracker, and offered to meet with her for coffee.</p><p data-block-key=\"50ipd\">In a statement emailed to reporters on Oct. 10, Dunn reasserted the department’s commitment to transparency and said they were “resolving” Shelburne’s removal for the press list, WBRC <a href=\"https://www.wbrc.com/2019/10/10/alabama-department-corrections-we-will-remain-transparent/\">reported</a> at the time.</p><p data-block-key=\"578k4\">“The action of removing this person does not help us reach our ultimate goal of making Alabama safer and helping to cultivate an atmosphere within the system where both the inmates and correctional officers feel safe,” Dunn said. “The Alabama Department of Corrections is committed to working with all types of media and will continue working tirelessly to remain transparent and effective for the media and the public.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dkqff\">Shelburne told the Tracker that while her access was restored for a time, communications with Mays and other ADOC press officers were sluggish and their responses hostile. In emails shared with the Tracker, they criticized her reporting tips from incarcerated individuals and accused her of “misinformation” and “cherry-picking” information to further an agenda. By June 2020, both the ADOC and governor’s office had removed her from their press distribution lists and stopped responding to her requests entirely, Shelburne said.</p><p data-block-key=\"7dpif\">Shelburne said she’s now considering legal avenues for restoring her access.</p><p data-block-key=\"be5rd\">“It feels like nothing is going to change unless I sue,” Shelburne said. “You can’t block people’s access just because you don’t like what they’re saying because they are an opinion journalist or an op-ed writer.</p><p data-block-key=\"1942f\">“And a government agency can’t decide who is a real journalist or not.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": null,
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Alabama",
"abbreviation": "AL"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [
"Law enforcement: State"
],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Denial of Access"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Beth Shelburne (Independent)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": [
"Press credential or media list"
]
},
{
"title": "CBP officer withholds journalist’s passport until he agrees to say he writes ‘propaganda’",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cbp-officer-withholds-journalists-passport-until-he-agrees-to-say-he-writes-propaganda/",
"first_published_at": "2019-10-09T14:52:35.106536Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-02-05T19:07:58.594058Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-02-05T19:07:58.477520Z",
"date": "2019-10-03",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Dulles",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"46zhd\">Ben Watson, a news editor for Defense One, was harassed by a U.S. immigration official when arriving at Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 3, 2019. At passport control, a Customs and Border Protection officer asked Watson four times, “You write propaganda, right?” The officer withheld Watson’s passport until he gave an affirmative answer.</p><p data-block-key=\"dwn9p\">Watson told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that things seemed normal as he passed through permanent resident reentry aisle No. 17 at around 4 p.m., though he noticed the CBP officer on duty was taking twice as long as normal with each customs interview.</p><p data-block-key=\"i5j0u\">In an <a href=\"https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2019/10/us-customs-officer-harasses-defense-one-journalist-dulles/160380/\">account</a> of the incident for Defense One, Watson wrote that after he answered a few standard questions about undeclared goods, the interaction took an unusual and unsettling turn.</p><p data-block-key=\"naqce\">After telling the officer that he is a journalist, the officer asked, “So you write propaganda, right?”</p><p data-block-key=\"gnnud\">Watson told the Tracker that at first he wasn’t sure the officer was serious. “When I saw this smirk on his face and with the way he was looking at me, I realized this was not a joke.”</p><p data-block-key=\"r6odz\">Watson responded no, that he was a journalist and that in his work covering national security he uses many of the same skills he used as a U.S. Army public affairs officer. “Some would argue, that’s propaganda,” Watson <a href=\"https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2019/10/us-customs-officer-harasses-defense-one-journalist-dulles/160380/\">recalled</a> saying.</p><p data-block-key=\"zr7j0\">The CBP officer persisted, asking a second time whether Watson is a journalist and asking again, “You write propaganda, right?”</p><p data-block-key=\"c2918\">Watson wrote that he paused briefly and then said, “For the purposes of expediting this conversation, yes.” Before returning his passport, the officer made Watson repeat for a second time that he, as a journalist, wrote propaganda.</p><p data-block-key=\"0qng1\">Watson told the Tracker that he gave in when he thought about how long he could be delayed if he called for the officer’s supervisor and filed a complaint in person. He said, however, that he has since filed a civil rights complaint with the Department of Homeland Security’s Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties.</p><p data-block-key=\"df099\">In a <a href=\"https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2019/10/us-customs-officer-harasses-defense-one-journalist-dulles/160380/\">statement</a> to Defense One, a DHS spokesperson said the CRCL office has received Watson’s complaint and is reviewing it. A spokesperson for CBP also provided an emailed statement to Defense One, stating that the agency is aware of and is investigating the reports of an officer’s alleged inappropriate conduct.</p><p data-block-key=\"0k94s\">Watson <a href=\"https://twitter.com/natsecwatson/status/1180176357701103617\">tweeted</a> after the incident, “I’ve honestly never had a human attempt to provoke me like this before in my life.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">What I told my colleagues shortly afterward:<br><br>"I've honestly never had a human attempt to provoke me like this before in my life.<br>This behavior is totally normal now, I guess?" <a href=\"https://t.co/9qV5xRWVMr\">https://t.co/9qV5xRWVMr</a></p>— Ben Watson (@natsecwatson) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/natsecwatson/status/1180176357701103617?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 4, 2019</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"hnt26\">Walter Shaub, an attorney who served as director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics until 2017, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/waltshaub/status/1180189374656499714\">tweeted</a> that the incident should go to the DHS inspector general for review.</p><p data-block-key=\"wo68o\">“A customs agent withholding the passport of a journalist until he agrees to say he writes ‘propaganda’ is actionable misconduct, even in Trump’s America,” Shaub wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"0h6o9\">Watson’s is the latest incident of politicized remarks by CBP agents aimed at journalists that the Tracker has documented in our <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/border-stop/\">border stop category</a>. Other recent cases include a journalist being asked if <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cbp-agent-asks-british-journalist-entering-us-if-hes-part-of-the-fake-news-media/\">he was part of the “fake news media,”</a> two journalists being <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/two-journalists-asked-about-political-views-by-cbp-told-to-fall-in-line/\">told to “fall in line”</a> with the president’s agenda, and aggressive questioning to a reporter <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/buzzfeed-news-reporter-aggressively-questioned-about-reporting-passport-checkpoint/\">about his outlet’s political articles</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTS1DLSU.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ihj2l\">International passengers arrive at Washington Dulles International Airport after clearing immigration and customs in Dulles, Virginia in this 2017 file photo.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": "Dulles International Airport",
"target_us_citizenship_status": "U.S. citizen",
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": "no",
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": "yes",
"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Virginia",
"abbreviation": "VA"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [
"United States"
],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Border Stop"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Ben Watson (Defense One)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "NYT report: U.S. Ambassador to Hungary asked Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty to circumvent critical reporting of Hungarian government",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/nyt-report-us-ambassador-to-hungary-asked-radio-free-europeradio-liberty-to-circumvent-critical-reporting-of-hungarian-government/",
"first_published_at": "2021-03-24T17:25:46.795029Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-04-06T17:25:36.448356Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-04-06T17:25:36.395950Z",
"date": "2019-09-26",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Budapest",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"x9gko\">David Cornstein, who served as United States Ambassador to Hungary from 2018 to 2020, reportedly contacted the federally-funded U.S. Agency for Global Media in 2019 asking that its media services avoid negative reporting about Viktor Orban, Prime Minister of Hungary, according to a New York Times <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/06/world/europe/radio-free-europe-hungary-orban.html\">report</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"cze6a\">“The United States International Broadcasting Act <a href=\"https://pressroom.rferl.org/frequently-asked-questions#firewall\">prohibits American government officials</a>, including Mr. Cornstein, from interfering in Radio Free Europe’s reporting,” the Times reported on Sept. 6. 2019.</p><p data-block-key=\"f252f\">Following the report, eight U.S. senators addressed an<a href=\"https://www.durbin.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Sept25CornsteinHungaryLetter.pdf\"> open letter</a> to Cornstein seeking to confirm the Times account. No response from Cornstein has been made public, and Sen. Dick Durbin’s office, which posted the letter on the senator’s website, did not respond to a request from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker for information.</p><p data-block-key=\"njbhe\">Cornstein’s reported request came as the USAGM, an independent federal agency that oversees five state-run broadcasting networks, was preparing for a May 2020 relaunch of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in Hungary. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is funded by the U.S. government, with a mandate to promote democratic values in countries where a free press is banned or not fully established.</p><p data-block-key=\"odsd5\">According to the Times <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/06/world/europe/radio-free-europe-hungary-orban.html\">report</a>, unnamed U.S. officials told the paper that while Cornstein was still serving as ambassador, he “sought assurances from the agency that its service would not focus on negative stories about the Hungarian government, or investigative journalism, and that it would not undermine his efforts as ambassador.”</p><p data-block-key=\"baxnz\">USAGM’s CEO and Director John Lansing told the Times, “It’s literally illegal for the U.S. government to interfere in our editorial independence.”</p><p data-block-key=\"nmt5i\">The United States International Broadcasting Act 1994, enacted to streamline the U.S. international media, prohibits U.S. government officials from interfering in Radio Free Europe’s reporting.</p><p data-block-key=\"ek959\">In a reply on the matter, Cornstein told the Times, “In general we do not comment on private discussions. That said, I remain as committed today as I was when I made clear during my Senate confirmation hearing, that as ambassador I am committed to promoting American and democratic values, including the freedom of speech and the freedom of the press.”</p><p data-block-key=\"nji1a\">Cornstein, who was appointed to the post in Budapest by President Donald Trump in June 2018, enjoyed a close relationship with Orban, who has been heavily criticized by pro-democracy and human rights groups for cracking down on freedoms.</p><p data-block-key=\"lv64h\">According to a 2019 <a href=\"https://ipi.media/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Hungary-Conclusions-International-Mission-Final.pdf\">report</a> by leading international press freedom groups following their joint mission to Hungary, Orban’s government has dismantled media freedoms, using techniques such as systematic government takeovers of independent media. Freedom House, a U.S.-based democracy watchdog organization, downgraded Hungary from “free” to “partly free” in 2019 in its annual Freedom of the World <a href=\"https://freedomhouse.org/country/hungary/freedom-world/2020\">report</a>, citing Orban’s increasing control on the country’s independent institutions.</p><p data-block-key=\"dmr69\">Despite the concerns of Freedom House and others, Cornstein lobbied to help Orban get a White House meeting in 2019, where President Trump praised him, saying, “Viktor Orban has done a tremendous job in so many different ways.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8twho\">The <a href=\"https://www.szabadeuropa.hu/\">Hungarian service of RFE/RL</a> relaunched on Sep. 8, 2020. “We are very excited to return to Hungary with state-of-the art programming and RFE/RL’s signature commitment to serving the public interest by reporting the issues that our audiences say matter most,” said RFE/RL acting President Daisy Sindelar.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": null,
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Hungary",
"abbreviation": null
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"U.S. Agency for Global Media"
],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Chilling Statement"
],
"targeted_journalists": [],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Army soldier indicted for disclosing bomb-making techniques mentioned news media as targets",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/army-soldier-indicted-disclosing-bomb-making-techniques-mentioned-news-media-targets/",
"first_published_at": "2019-10-15T13:39:22.838152Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-02-29T19:50:21.421471Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-02-29T19:50:21.348855Z",
"date": "2019-09-21",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Fort Riley",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"lal9c\">A U.S. Army soldier stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas, was arrested on Sept. 21, 2019, on allegations that he distributed information online about making explosives and discussed attacking multiple targets, including a local news station and a major American news network.</p><p data-block-key=\"wsafd\">According to the <a href=\"https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/6427168/9-23-19-US-v-Smith-Complaint.pdf\">criminal complaint</a>, Jarrett William Smith, 24, engaged in conversations on multiple platforms about his desire to join a violent far-right paramilitary group in Ukraine, about killing members of the anti-fascist group known as antifa and about techniques for building bombs and other explosives.</p><p data-block-key=\"6wvjn\">In an Aug. 19 conversation in an online chat group, Smith told a confidential FBI source about his plans for domestic terrorism, including killing members of antifa and destroying nearby cell towers or a local news station. In a conversation with the confidential source a few days later, Smith gave the headquarters of a major American news network as a potential target, describing how a car bomb could be used.</p><p data-block-key=\"xnl2i\">While the network was not named in the affidavit, two unnamed <a href=\"https://edition.cnn.com/2019/09/23/politics/army-private-arrested-bombs/index.html?no-st=1569377844\">sources told CNN</a> that it was the CNN headquarters in New York that was targeted.</p><p data-block-key=\"tm7r8\">In the criminal complaint, FBI Special Agent Brandon LaMar wrote, “[Smith] admitted that he provides this information even to individuals who tell him they intend to use the information to cause harm to others.” According to LaMar, Smith said he does so to cause “chaos.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ofa5y\">Smith was indicted by a federal grand jury on Sept. 25, and charged with two counts of distributing explosives information and a third alleging he sent interstate threats about setting the home of an antifa member on fire.</p><p data-block-key=\"d2ubw\">Smith pleaded not guilty to the charges during a hearing on Sept. 26, The Associated Press <a href=\"https://www.apnews.com/1f2e43cd2e2e40a3848058bfdd2029ac\">reported</a>, and a federal magistrate ordered him detained until his trial. He faces 45 years in prison, a $500,000 fine, or both if convicted on all three counts, <a href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6431405-Jarrett-William-Smith-indictment-September-2019.html\">according to the indictment</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTS298K9.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"2nc8k\">CNN’s New York headquarters, housed in the Time Warner building in Manhattan, was reported to be a target of a U.S. Army soldier who was indicted for distributing information about explosives.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Kansas",
"abbreviation": "KS"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"CNN"
],
"tags": [
"bomb / bomb threat"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Other Incident"
],
"targeted_journalists": [],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Kentucky journalist harassed, kissed on cheek during live broadcast",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/kentucky-journalist-harassed-kissed-cheek-during-live-broadcast/",
"first_published_at": "2019-10-07T16:51:11.443908Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-12-08T19:28:09.072473Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-12-08T19:28:08.758929Z",
"date": "2019-09-20",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Louisville",
"longitude": -85.75941,
"latitude": 38.25424,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"h2ixh\">WAVE 3 News broadcast reporter Sara Rivest was harassed and kissed by a stranger while reporting outside a music festival in Louisville, Kentucky, on Sept. 20, 2019.</p><p data-block-key=\"3w0qw\">The news crew set up outside of the Bourbon & Beyond music festival to avoid the worst of the crowds, Rivest <a href=\"https://www.wave3.com/2019/09/23/wave-news-reporter-kissed-live-tv-heres-why-its-not-cool/\">told</a> WAVE 3. She shared a clip of her live broadcast on Twitter.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Hey mister, here’s your 3 seconds of fame. How about you not touch me? Thanks!! <a href=\"https://t.co/5O44fu4i7y\">pic.twitter.com/5O44fu4i7y</a></p>— Sara Rivest (@SRivestWAVE3) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/SRivestWAVE3/status/1175185533250801666?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 20, 2019</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"e5ey3\">Shortly after Rivest begins her broadcast, a man walks behind her and pretends to spank her before walking off camera smiling. A few seconds later, a second man quickly runs in front of Rivest, who continues reporting through the distraction. The first man, later identified as Eric Goodman, quickly returns and leans in to kiss Rivest’s cheek before running back off camera.</p><p data-block-key=\"fpesz\">“OK, that was not appropriate,” Rivest says to the camera. “But, let’s just go to the story.”</p><p data-block-key=\"rspj8\">Rivest appeared to laugh off the incident, but she addressed the harassment a few days later on her channel, <a href=\"https://www.wave3.com/2019/09/23/wave-news-reporter-kissed-live-tv-heres-why-its-not-cool/\">and told viewers</a> that she was shaken up and his actions were unacceptable.</p><p data-block-key=\"c4chj\">“I was shocked, but my nervous laughter does not equate to approval of his actions,” Rivest said. “It was an exertion of power over me, a woman trying to do her job who couldn’t stop him. This embarrassed me, and it made me feel uncomfortable and powerless.”</p><p data-block-key=\"iwmwz\">Rivest highlighted that harassment of this type is an all-too-common occurrence for journalists in the field, especially women. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-assaulted-heavyweight-boxer-during-camera-interview/\">at least one other case</a> this year where a female broadcast reporter was kissed against her will while reporting.</p><p data-block-key=\"q06kr\">Rivest told the Tracker that she didn’t expect the amount of public support that she received.</p><p data-block-key=\"iquzj\">“I knew I had something important to say about this but I didn’t know how many people would listen, and it’s important when something like this happens to say something,” Rivest said.</p><p data-block-key=\"9bk8k\">After Goodman was identified as the man involved in the incident, he was charged by the Jefferson County Attorney with harassment with physical contact, a Class B misdemeanor.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Eric Goodman has been identified as the guy who pretended to spank me and kiss me during the live shot Friday. He’s charged with harassment with physical contact. He has written me an apology letter, I’ll read that on <a href=\"https://twitter.com/wave3news?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@wave3news</a> later today. <a href=\"https://t.co/chgG9tikVp\">pic.twitter.com/chgG9tikVp</a></p>— Sara Rivest (@SRivestWAVE3) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/SRivestWAVE3/status/1177241192582516736?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 26, 2019</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"0lgcy\">In a letter of apology <a href=\"https://www.wave3.com/2019/09/26/man-who-kissed-wave-news-reporter-sara-rivest-live-tv-identified-charged/\">read on air</a> by Rivest, Goodman said, “After watching the video, reading through the posts and listening to your explanation, I have found a new respect for how difficult it must be to be a reporter, specifically in this type of environment. I was wrong to interrupt your job, invade your personal space and leave you feeling powerless.”</p><p data-block-key=\"wujur\">Rivest said that she accepts his apology, but that she knows he needs to face the consequences of his actions and agrees with the Commonwealth’s decision to charge him.</p><p data-block-key=\"rx9x9\">Goodman has a Nov. 6 court date, and faces up to <a href=\"https://casetext.com/statute/kentucky-revised-statutes/title-50-kentucky-penal-code/chapter-532-classification-and-designation-of-offenses-authorized-disposition/section-532090-sentence-of-imprisonment-for-misdemeanor\">90 days in jail</a> and <a href=\"https://casetext.com/statute/kentucky-revised-statutes/title-50-kentucky-penal-code/chapter-534-fines/section-534040-fines-for-misdemeanors-and-violations\">a maximum $250 fine</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Rivest.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ysdxu\">Journalist Sara Rivest speaks candidly on air about being assaulted during a previous live broadcast.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Kentucky",
"abbreviation": "KY"
},
"updates": [
"(2019-12-20 00:00:00+00:00) Man who kissed Kentucky reporter on air sentenced to diversion"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"sexual assault"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Sara Rivest (WAVE)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "BuzzFeed says its immigration reporter was excluded from DHS border tour",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/buzzfeed-says-its-immigration-reporter-was-excluded-dhs-border-tour/",
"first_published_at": "2019-09-23T17:03:49.344194Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-02-06T20:32:57.793034Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-02-06T20:32:57.716619Z",
"date": "2019-09-16",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"1m1hg\">BuzzFeed News immigration reporter Hamed Aleaziz was disinvited from a Department of Homeland Security tour of the border on Sept. 16, 2019, according to a letter obtained by CNN's Reliable Sources.</p><p data-block-key=\"qp2rz\">CNN <a href=\"https://mailchi.mp/cnn/rs-sept-17-2019\">reported</a> that Aleaziz had originally been invited on the media tour with acting DHS Secretary Kevin McAleenan and had provided his personal information for security clearance purposes.</p><p data-block-key=\"u4o2o\">In the letter, BuzzFeed news director Tom Namako wrote to protest the agency’s treatment of Aleaziz. Namako said that while DHS spokesperson Andrew Meehan was visiting BuzzFeed’s offices in February, Meehan said he viewed Aleaziz as a “fair reporter” and repeatedly invited him to take a tour of the border with U.S. immigration authorities.</p><p data-block-key=\"hppfh\">Namako wrote that Aleaziz had sought to take Meehan up on this offer when he was notified that he would be excluded from the tour.</p><p data-block-key=\"c1zuy\">“We are perplexed and disappointed by your apparent decision to specifically target Hamed, who has always sought your agency’s perspective in his coverage,” Namako wrote. “His exclusion serves only to prevent our audience and the American public from understanding the real situation at the border.”</p><p data-block-key=\"kukh1\">Neither Aleaziz nor a spokesperson from DHS responded to request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTSGAZI.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"1v5zh\">A BuzzFeed news director protested a reporter's exclusion from a media tour of the border with DHS.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"BuzzFeed News"
],
"tags": [
"immigration"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [
"Federal government: Agency"
],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Denial of Access"
],
"targeted_journalists": [],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": [
"Government event"
]
},
{
"title": "Journalists barred from asylum hearings held in tent courts at border",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-barred-asylum-hearings-held-tent-courts-border/",
"first_published_at": "2019-09-23T19:49:25.720770Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-02-06T20:31:55.153989Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-02-06T20:31:55.062030Z",
"date": "2019-09-11",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Laredo",
"longitude": -99.50754,
"latitude": 27.50641,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"nwe6q\">Members of the media were barred from observing asylum hearings held in two tent complexes in the Texas border cities of Laredo and Brownsville. The first hearing in Laredo was held on Sept. 11, 2019, and hearings began at the Brownsville tent court the next day.</p><p data-block-key=\"86o7e\">Asylum seekers processed under the Trump administration’s new Migrant Protection Protocols, also known as the “Remain in Mexico” policy, crossed the border to attend the hearings held in the tent facilities beginning on Sept. 11. But journalists and members of the public were not allowed inside the tents while the hearings were in session.</p><p data-block-key=\"b612n\">BuzzFeed reporter Adolfo Flores tweeted that he had not been permitted into the tents to observe the hearings on their first day:</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I wasn’t allowed to observe the first MPP/“Remain in Mexico” hearings at the tents in Laredo, TX because they’re “not open to the public,” a DHS officer said. Was told the only people allowed inside the tents DHS built are law enforcement, attorneys with clients, and contractors. <a href=\"https://t.co/c1aT3P4dPW\">pic.twitter.com/c1aT3P4dPW</a></p>— Adolfo Flores (@aflores) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/aflores/status/1171778317441294337?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 11, 2019</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"5l894\">Typically, asylum hearings are open to the public and the media except when limited exceptions are invoked, including when “the respondent in an asylum case, which by regulation provides for additional privacy protections, requests that the hearing be closed,” or when such closure is in the “public interest,” according to <a href=\"https://www.justice.gov/eoir/page/file/941991/download\">established Executive Office for Immigration Review policies</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"d3omb\">These exceptions can be invoked on a case-by-case basis, but the access in the tent courts is being restricted to all hearings.</p><p data-block-key=\"83ial\">In a statement emailed to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson—who declined to be identified by name—wrote that because the tent courts are located within U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s “secure port of entry property,” media access to them is limited. “Access to these temporary immigration hearing facilities will operate in accordance with practices for other secure CBP areas,” the statement said. “Requests for access by the media or by the public to the [immigration hearing facilities] will be assessed on a case-by-case basis when operationally feasible and in accordance with procedures for access to any CBP secure facility.”</p><p data-block-key=\"624dk\">Journalists can observe the hearings from San Antonio, Harlingen, and Port Isabel, Texas, where the immigration judges presiding over the hearings are located, the DHS spokesperson continued. The asylum seekers appear in the courtroom via teleconference.</p><p data-block-key=\"0zbxd\">This arrangement, however, means the journalists will be located at least 150 miles away from the migrants, rendering them unavailable for in-person interviews.</p><p data-block-key=\"rtpjz\">“Just as it’s hard for judges to catch emotion and body language from a video hearing, it’s going to be hard for reporters to accurately describe the scene in a hearing room if we only have access to it via video conference,” Flores said in a statement emailed to the Tracker. “If there are technical issues inside one of the tent hearings we won’t know what it was like for the asylum-seekers there. We’ll only be able to see what the hearing was like from the judge’s courtroom.”</p><p data-block-key=\"p89y5\">Journalists need access to these hearings, Flores continued, to cover how the “Remain in Mexico” policy is affecting migrants. “Public hearings are supposed to be public,” Flores wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"fv1za\">Kennji Kizuka, a researcher at Human Rights First, decried the ban on journalists and outside observers in the tent courts in a <a href=\"https://www.humanrightsfirst.org/press-release/banning-legal-observers-asylum-hearings-next-step-under-cruel-remain-mexico\">statement</a>. “By banning independent monitors and potential pro bono lawyers from tent courts, the Trump Administration is hiding information about the human rights abuses asylum seekers are suffering after being forced to return to Mexico,” the statement said. “It is just another attempt to cover up the flaws in this sham asylum process, a process created to block refugees from finding safety in the United States.”</p><p data-block-key=\"pi84i\">Some 42,000 migrants are now waiting in Mexico for their asylum hearings under the so-called “Remain in Mexico” policy that has been challenged in the courts. On Sept. 11, the U.S. Supreme Court <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/11/us/politics/supreme-court-trump-asylum.html\">stayed</a> an injunction in the case, allowing the Trump administration to proceed in enforcing the new policy while court challenges proceed. According to <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/along-texas-border-trump-administration-sets-up-tent-courts-for-virtual-asylum-hearings/2019/09/18/f29d1326-d9bc-11e9-adff-79254db7f766_story.html\">reporting</a> from The Washington Post, the Trump administration has budgeted $155 million to cover operation of five temporary MPP courts.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTX73O3I.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"t0zle\">Migrants who returned voluntarily to Mexico from the U.S. under the Migrant Protection Protocol show documents to a U.S. border protection agent to attend their court hearing for asylum seekers in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Texas",
"abbreviation": "TX"
},
"updates": [
"(2019-12-29 00:00:00+00:00) Tent courts for asylum seekers at U.S.-Mexico border opened to journalists"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"Media"
],
"tags": [
"immigration"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [
"Federal government: Agency"
],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Denial of Access"
],
"targeted_journalists": [],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": [
"Other"
]
},
{
"title": "North Carolina state senator damages reporter’s phone in physical altercation",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/north-carolina-state-senator-damages-reporters-phone-in-physical-altercation/",
"first_published_at": "2019-09-19T20:00:33.780626Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-10-27T21:28:45.469477Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-10-27T21:28:45.364437Z",
"date": "2019-09-11",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Raleigh",
"longitude": -78.63861,
"latitude": 35.7721,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"vz2y6\">Investigative reporter for NC Policy Watch, Joe Killian, said North Carolina State Sen. Paul Lowe assaulted him and threw his phone down a hallway of the legislative building on Sept. 11, 2019.</p><p data-block-key=\"m9b05\">Killian was covering the aftermath of an unscheduled vote to overrule the governor’s veto of the state budget at approximately 10:20 a.m. when he heard screaming from behind a closed door and a shout for police assistance, Policy Watch <a href=\"https://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/2019/09/11/n-c-sen-paul-lowe-apologizes-after-accosting-policy-watch-reporter/\">reported</a>. Killian began filming as Lowe came out of the room alongside two other congressmen.</p><p data-block-key=\"o6b01\">In Killian’s <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiGjY8-Q7_A\">video</a> of the incident posted to NC Policy Watch’s channel on YouTube, Lowe notices Killian filming and moves toward him asking, “What are you doing with your camera?”</p><p data-block-key=\"hkzvz\">“I’m a journalist,” Killian replies as Lowe grabs at the hand holding the phone. Killian told Policy Watch that after a brief struggle the senator threw Killian’s phone down the hallway and walked away. Killian said that he was not injured in the altercation.</p><p data-block-key=\"j9j3q\">In the outlet’s write-up about the incident, NC Policy Watch Director Rob Schofield offered this <a href=\"https://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/2019/09/11/n-c-sen-paul-lowe-apologizes-after-accosting-policy-watch-reporter/\">statement</a>: “Senator Lowe’s unprovoked actions this morning targeted a working journalist just doing his job. They were outrageous, unacceptable, and sadly indicative of a trend we’ve seen from an alarming number of public officials.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ih95a\">“I apologize for anything that I’ve done,” Lowe said in the write-up. “It was an unfortunate circumstance. I apologize for that circumstance.”</p><p data-block-key=\"52ifm\">The Greensboro News & Record <a href=\"https://www.greensboro.com/news/state/state-senator-from-forsyth-county-apologizes-after-run-in-with/article_a9d57455-350f-532f-a1c7-2faf46ebc9cb.html\">reported</a> that both Lowe and Killian had spoken with the N.C. General Assembly Police Department about the incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"8ifvg\">Schofield told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that Killian’s phone was ultimately destroyed. “He has purchased a new one and Senator Lowe has promised to reimburse our organization,” Schofield said.</p><p data-block-key=\"z8sdx\">Schofield told the Tracker that they do not anticipate any further legal proceedings at this point.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Screenshot_131.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"f1xmv\">An image from NC Policy Watch reporter Joe Killian’s phone as North Carolina State Sen. Paul Lowe moves toward him</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": "politician",
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "politician",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "cellphone"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "North Carolina",
"abbreviation": "NC"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Joe Killian (NC Policy Watch)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Journalists subpoenaed in criminal case involving intimidation, blackmail of the news organizations",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-subpoenaed-criminal-case-involving-intimidation-blackmail-news-organizations/",
"first_published_at": "2019-10-21T16:35:36.411714Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-10-11T16:43:53.275361Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-10-11T16:43:53.177574Z",
"date": "2019-09-10",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Independence",
"longitude": -95.70831,
"latitude": 37.22424,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"vh8oq\">Journalists at two local newspapers in Kansas have been subpoenaed for testimony as part of a criminal case against a former community college football coach featured in a Netflix documentary who allegedly impersonated a high-powered Los Angeles attorney as part of a scheme to intimidate the journalists.</p><p data-block-key=\"lnm83\">The Independence Daily Reporter, its publisher, and the editor for the Montgomery County Chronicle received a subpoena dated Sept. 10, 2019.</p><p data-block-key=\"71m7b\">Both the Daily Reporter and the Chronicle are based in Independence, a small town of under 9,000 people in southeastern Kansas. The town gained national fame when “Last Chance U,” a Netflix documentary series about junior college football teams, arrived in 2017 to chronicle the transformation of Independence Community College’s football program under new coach Jason Brown.</p><p data-block-key=\"1p5qo\">The Daily Reporter is a daily newspaper that publishes both online and in print, while the Chronicle is a weekly publication that doesn’t have a website. The Chronicle is edited by Andy Taylor, whose family has been in the newspaper business since the 1870s. Andy’s parents, Rudy and Kathy Taylor, are the paper’s owners and publishers.</p><p data-block-key=\"rdu6a\">Taylor told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the trouble began in October 2018, after he published an editorial critical of coach Brown and the ICC football team, which had <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10155860302038716&id=179343538715\">gotten into a physical fight with an opposing team</a> the month before.</p><p data-block-key=\"xad5k\">A few weeks after the editorial was published, Taylor received an email from someone claiming to be “Richard Barnwell,” an attorney at The Cochran Firm, a well-known law firm in Los Angeles. The email threatened Taylor with a lawsuit if he continued to write about Brown. (Although Taylor said he could not share copies of the actual emails in advance of the trial, he was able to describe them in general terms.)</p><p data-block-key=\"ivpxk\">“It looked legit,” Taylor said of the email. “It had the guy’s [photograph] on there. It had a link to the firm’s website. It was just very typical of what you’d see in any cease and desist letter. It was typical in the language, where it would start out saying, ‘I represent Jason Brown at Independence Community College, he is my client, any continuing effort to defame or write anything that is negative toward my client will result in immediate litigation against you, please cease and desist.’”</p><p data-block-key=\"8b96q\">The email spooked Taylor, who knew that his family’s small-town newspaper could not afford to defend an expensive defamation suit.</p><p data-block-key=\"sei68\">“My parents, who are in their mid-70s, own the newspaper,” Taylor said. “They’re the publishers. So I presented them the cease and desist letter, and they were very quick and swift in their decision. In fact, my father said, ‘Andy, you need to cool your jets!’ Meaning, stop being critical of Jason Brown.”</p><p data-block-key=\"bofnq\">Fearful of a lawsuit, the Chronicle stopped running editorials and commentary critical of Brown and the ICC football program.</p><p data-block-key=\"77bzo\">Then in February 2019, a student at ICC who had been cut from the football team reached out to Taylor with an explosive tip about Brown. The student, who was originally from Germany, told Taylor that Brown had berated him in front of his teammates and mocked his heritage. After the student complained about Brown’s behavior to ICC administrators, the coach sent him a text message: “I’m your new Hitler.” The student shared a copy of the text message with Taylor.</p><p data-block-key=\"5uaps\">Soon after Taylor contacted ICC’s president for comment, he received another threatening email from “Richard Barnwell.”</p><p data-block-key=\"yq0z4\">Taylor said this email referenced the cease and desist language of the first email and again threatened a defamation and libel lawsuit if he investigated further.</p><p data-block-key=\"y2dn2\">This time, Taylor replied to the email. The response he got from “Barnwell” was unprofessional, full of misspelled words — including the word “chronicle” — and personal insults, which made him skeptical that the man on the other end of the email was really a professional attorney. Taylor also noticed that the emails supposedly from “Barnwell” were sent from a Yahoo email address, rather than an email address associated with The Cochran Firm.</p><p data-block-key=\"sbc13\">Suspicious that someone was impersonating Barnwell, Taylor called the attorney’s office and explained the situation to his secretary. Barnwell soon left Taylor a voicemail confirming that the attorney had nothing to do with the emails and had never heard of Brown.</p><p data-block-key=\"gpayx\">Taylor then contacted the county sheriff’s office and told them the whole story. In May, the sheriff’s office informed Taylor that it had obtained evidence tying the fake “Barnwell” account to Brown’s electronic devices. Taylor also learned that the same email account had targeted another local newspaper — the Daily Reporter — which had run an editorial cartoon mocking Brown.</p><p data-block-key=\"t8tf5\">On June 28, Brown was charged with four felony counts of blackmail, four felony counts of identity theft, and two misdemeanor counts of criminal false communication, <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10156464185298716&id=179343538715\">according to the Chronicle</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"hooyk\">A month later, Netflix released the fourth season of “Last Chance U.” The season details the text message incident and Brown’s subsequent firing but makes no mention of the pending criminal charges against him.</p><p data-block-key=\"wp2qh\">Taylor plans to testify at Brown’s trial, which was originally scheduled to begin in October but has since been postponed to January 2020. Both Taylor and Josh Umholtz, the publisher of the Daily Reporter, and the Daily Reporter itself appear on a list of subpoenaed witnesses. No one from the Daily Reporter has returned request for comment as to whether the organization will comply with the subpoena.</p><p data-block-key=\"906f9\">Most subpoena cases documented on the Tracker involve journalists who are being compelled to testify, often about their reporting and their confidential sources, against their will. This case is different.</p><p data-block-key=\"mev19\">Taylor described his situation as “the flip side of the conventional argument against journalists testifying,” since it involves journalists being the victim of a criminal attempt to intimidate the press. He said he would testify voluntarily even if he had not been subpoenaed in the case.</p><p data-block-key=\"dyrrp\">“I just want to tell somebody, with my hand on my Bible and under oath, that I did my job, I did it well, and somebody didn’t like that and tried to put my pen away, and that doesn’t work in America,” he said.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Screen_Shot_2019-10-21_at_12.33.0.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"do49k\">The Montgomery County Chronicle is one of two Kansas publications subpoenaed to testify in a criminal case against a community college football coach charged with blackmail, identity theft after allegedly sending false cease and desist emails.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": "other testimony",
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": "State",
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Kansas",
"abbreviation": "KS"
},
"updates": [
"(2021-04-15 00:00:00+00:00) Kansas journalists not compelled to testify after criminal case against football coach is dropped"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"Independence Daily Reporter"
],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Andy Taylor (Montgomery County Chronicle)",
"Josh Umholtz (Independence Daily Reporter)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [
"pending"
],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "BuzzFeed reporter receives second subpoena in ongoing Unsworth-Musk defamation lawsuit",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/buzzfeed-reporter-receives-second-subpoena-ongoing-unsworth-musk-defamation-lawsuit/",
"first_published_at": "2019-10-01T19:01:24.995200Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-08-15T16:03:12.843731Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-08-15T16:03:12.621277Z",
"date": "2019-09-06",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "San Francisco",
"longitude": -122.41942,
"latitude": 37.77493,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"dvhsy\">Ryan Mac, a senior technology reporter for BuzzFeed News, was issued his second subpoena in the ongoing case between caver Vernon Unsworth and Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Sept. 6, 2019. In total, <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?state=California&targeted_institutions=BuzzFeed+News&categories=Subpoena%2FLegal+Order\">five subpoenas were issued for reporting material and testimony</a> from Mac and the digital news outlet.</p><p data-block-key=\"qvssu\">Unsworth is suing Musk for defamation, alleging that the tech executive repeatedly labeled him a pedophile without evidence on Twitter and in communications with Mac, the latter of which were published by the outlet.</p><p data-block-key=\"i2udh\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker reviewed the <a href=\"/documents/14/e80f05e7-9605-4e47-b345-a678bbc1965f.pdf\">motion to quash</a> both subpoenas for Mac’s deposition. The filing said that Musk was the first to issue a subpoena, demanding that Mac appear at a Sept. 11 deposition. About a week later, Unsworth filed a deposition subpoena cross-noticing the subpoena from Musk, listing the same date and time.</p><p data-block-key=\"k8bu9\">Musk’s counsel had previously issued two subpoenas for information from the news organization.</p><p data-block-key=\"truf9\">Unsworth had promised not to file additional subpoenas for discovery after BuzzFeed complied with a previous subpoena for documents establishing how many people viewed BuzzFeed articles about Musk’s dispute with Unsworth.</p><p data-block-key=\"hgy62\">The filing said that Unsworth’s counsel was asked to voluntarily withdraw the subpoena. They declined.</p><p data-block-key=\"lej1w\">Mac’s attorneys filed the motion to quash both deposition subpoenas on Sept. 13, arguing that any information that could be gained legally is already available to the parties and everything else is protected under California’s reporter’s privilege.</p><p data-block-key=\"1twno\">“The Deposition Subpoenas represent an attempt to harass and scapegoat BuzzFeed reporter Ryan Mac for publishing a news article about comments made by billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk,” the filing said.</p><p data-block-key=\"bh6r0\">A hearing is scheduled for Oct. 18.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/MacBuzzFeed5.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ze6at\">A portion of the second subpoena demanding testimony from BuzzFeed reporter Ryan Mac as part of an ongoing defamation lawsuit between Tesla CEO Elon Musk and caver Vernon Unsworth.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": "other testimony",
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": "Federal",
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [
"(2019-10-28 00:00:00+00:00) Judge upholds one subpoena deposition in ongoing Musk-Unsworth case",
"(2019-12-06 00:00:00+00:00) BuzzFeed reporter not called to testify in Musk-Unsworth case"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Ryan Mac (BuzzFeed News)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [
"upheld"
],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Vermont Judiciary sets new rules on recording in courtrooms, registering as media",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/vermont-judiciary-sets-new-rules-recording-courtrooms-registering-media/",
"first_published_at": "2019-12-04T15:24:30.557961Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-12-21T16:48:29.094289Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-12-21T16:48:28.998227Z",
"date": "2019-09-03",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Montpelier",
"longitude": -72.57539,
"latitude": 44.26006,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"yr52u\">The state court system of Vermont formalized rules on May 1, 2019, requiring members of the press to register in order to record or photograph in state courtrooms. According to <a href=\"https://vtdigger.org/2019/08/15/new-court-rules-set-recording-restrictions-for-media-and-public/\">VTDigger</a>, the new rules, which also established who qualifies as a member of the press, took effect on Sept. 3.</p><p data-block-key=\"r8v6x\">The Vermont Judiciary’s rules <a href=\"https://www.vermontjudiciary.org/sites/default/files/documents/Summary%20of%20Use%20of%20Recording%20and%20Transmitting%20Devices%20in%20Courthouse%20or%20Courtroom.pdf\">state</a> that members of the media, once registered or with a one-time waiver, can record audio, video or livestream within courtrooms, while trial participants can only record audio. The public is not allowed to record whatsoever.</p><p data-block-key=\"2ffgp\">Emily Wetherell, deputy clerk of the Vermont Supreme Court, told VTDigger that the new rules were made to modernize existing policies in the face of technological advances, particularly in regard to smartphones.</p><p data-block-key=\"bsrux\">“The registration for media members, too, is a response to the power that cellphones give citizens in the courtroom,” Wetherell said. “That old rule was really just about media, because most people didn’t have the capability or the technology to record. But now most people can … and so in order to identify who media is, the committee decided that a registration process would be the most useful way of doing it.”</p><p data-block-key=\"pntoa\">Mike Donoghue, executive director of the Vermont Press Association and vice president of the New England First Amendment Coalition, told VTDigger that while he understands the need to modernize the rules, he has concerns about how the judiciary will determine who is legitimately a member of the media.</p><p data-block-key=\"c5y03\">According to <a href=\"https://www.manchesterjournal.com/stories/draft-court-rules-would-ban-non-media-video-photos,530892\">The Manchester Journal</a>, when the proposed rules went to the Vermont Supreme Court in January 2018, media was defined as "any individual or organization engaging in news gathering or reporting to the public, including free-lance reporter, newspaper, radio or television station or network, news service, magazine, trade paper, in-house publication, professional journal, or other news reporting or news-gathering agency, and any individual employed by such an organization."</p><p data-block-key=\"p8ixx\">Retired state Supreme Court Justice John Dooley, who chaired the procedural rules committee, told the Journal that they worked to adopt a “pretty broad” definition to avoid improperly denying applications for media registration. The registration system also established an appeals process by which a denied applicant can seek an “expeditious review” by the Supreme Court.</p><p data-block-key=\"v1nci\">Shawn Cunningham, a reporter for The Chester Telegraph, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was reporting on a hearing at the Windsor Criminal Division court when he was pulled aside by one of the court officers. The officer told Cunningham that he couldn’t take pictures without being registered.</p><p data-block-key=\"yv1fq\">“Now, I had seen this up on the wall the previous time I had been to court, but it seemed as if they were talking about recording, video and audio recording. And they said no, it’s all,” Cunningham said.</p><p data-block-key=\"kys43\">Cunningham said he was directed to the court clerk to register, but because approval would take several days he was able to receive a one-day registration waiver. In a matter of days Cunningham received his media registration, which appears to authorize him to take photos and recordings in Vermont courts in perpetuity.</p><p data-block-key=\"sio0a\">“We have several things right now that affect our area that are going through the courts, and that’s both Vermont-run state courts and federal courts,” Cunningham told the Tracker. “So, I’m basically checking all the rules to make sure that whatever I’m going into at this point, that I’m good to go in there and do what I need to do.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/vermont_seal.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"1qvxu\">Above the entrance to the Vermont Supreme Court in Montpelier is the state's coat of arms. The Vermont Judiciary recently changed its rules for reporting in the courts.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Vermont",
"abbreviation": "VT"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"Media"
],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [
"Judiciary: State Court"
],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Denial of Access"
],
"targeted_journalists": [],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": [
"Change in policy or practice"
]
},
{
"title": "BBC journalist questioned by border official, passport reviewed",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/bbc-journalist-questioned-border-official-passport-taken-away/",
"first_published_at": "2019-09-16T15:25:52.077513Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-02-29T18:47:01.921747Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-02-29T18:47:01.839555Z",
"date": "2019-08-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Brownsville",
"longitude": -97.49748,
"latitude": 25.90175,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ph265\">Stephanie Hegarty, a population correspondent for BBC News, was invasively questioned about her reporting and had her passport briefly taken away while crossing the U.S.-Mexico border on Aug. 29, 2019.</p><p data-block-key=\"gp927\">Hegarty told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was walking across the Brownsville & Matamoros International Bridge into Texas with a cameraman and reporter from BBC Mundo around 7:45 p.m. Her colleagues passed through immigration control without incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"prmxc\">When asked what she was doing in Mexico, Hegarty told the Customs and Border Protection officer that she was a reporter covering the situation at the border. That’s when it got very tense, she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"w0guq\">“He said, ‘It would help you a lot if you told me exactly where you were, where you were filming and who you spoke to,’” Hegarty told the Tracker. “It was at that point that I thought, ‘Do I really have to tell you that?’”</p><p data-block-key=\"a1v1r\">Hegarty, who is from Ireland, told the CBP officer that she didn’t think that was necessary. The officer scanned her passport, commented, “Oh, interesting,” and asked her to wait in a room while he walked away with her passport. She told the Tracker that she was traveling on a journalist visa and was concerned by the officer’s actions.</p><p data-block-key=\"q9uhr\">“I kinda thought, ‘Is he putting me on some sort of list? What is he doing with my passport in that other room?” Hegarty said.</p><p data-block-key=\"o88mg\">A CBP officer returned with her passport approximately 10 minutes later—Hegarty said she wasn’t certain whether it was the same officer—and his entire attitude had shifted. He was friendly while returning her passport, Hegarty said, and told her she could go.</p><p data-block-key=\"ruw1q\">Unlike previous searches, however, Hegarty called the incident extremely disappointing and disturbing.</p><p data-block-key=\"krdlk\">“I used to work in Nigeria so I’m used to being intimidated by officials,” Hegarty said. “But when it happened in the U.S. I was shocked.”</p><p data-block-key=\"kqjmo\"><i>Editor's Note:</i> <i>A previous version of this article misidentified Hegarty's nationality.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTS1TKDD.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ubo6v\">People wait on the Mexican side of the Brownsville & Matamoros International Bridge in 2018.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": "Brownsville & Matamoros International Bridge",
"target_us_citizenship_status": "U.S. non-resident",
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": "no",
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": "yes",
"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Texas",
"abbreviation": "TX"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [
"United Kingdom"
],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Border Stop"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Stephanie Hegarty (BBC News)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Amid backlash, Department of Defense backs away from new press regulations at Guantánamo Bay",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/amid-backlash-department-of-defense-backs-away-from-new-press-regulations-at-guant%C3%A1namo-bay/",
"first_published_at": "2019-09-09T20:31:37.164673Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-02-29T19:51:01.274290Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-02-29T19:51:01.201748Z",
"date": "2019-08-28",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Guantánamo Bay",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"zcn0o\">New press rules issued at U.S. Naval Station Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, on Aug. 28, 2019, would have curtailed journalists' ability to report freely at the detention camp where 40 detainees are still held.</p><p data-block-key=\"qbvk0\">The new policies, which military officials asked journalists to sign within 48 hours in order to report on military commission hearings in September, would require journalists to be constantly escorted while working at the naval station, and would give public affairs officers the right to review and approve interview recordings "prior to upload into any laptop." The rule also gives Naval Station personnel the ability to seize “all materials and equipment” in a journalist’s possession, including cellphones.</p><p data-block-key=\"qop1e\">“[Journalists] may not participate in any activity related to their work, including any news or information gathering activity, if they are not accompanied by a designated public affairs escort and have that escort’s explicit consent,” the policy reads,<a href=\"https://theintercept.com/2019/08/30/guantanamo-bay-press-restrictions/\"> according</a> to The Intercept. The policy also requires journalists to “submit all still imagery, video imagery, and audio recordings taken at [Naval Station Guantánamo Bay] to the appropriate security reviewer,” according to a letter written by a lawyer for The New York Times.</p><p data-block-key=\"wj7xp\">The Department of Defense's <a href=\"https://www.mc.mil/\">Office of Military Commissions</a> created a <a href=\"https://www.mc.mil/Portals/0/MILCOMMediaGroundRules.pdf\">separate policy</a> in 2010 that applied to journalists inside military commission facilities at the naval station. Naval Station Guantánamo Bay public affairs officer J. Overton told The Intercept that the new rules covered the naval station generally, but not reporters at the Office of Military Commissions. (Emails sent by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker to the Navy for comment were not returned.)</p><p data-block-key=\"sttym\">In a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/carolrosenberg/status/1167882751191605248?s=20\">tweet</a>, Guantánamo-based New York Times reporter Carol Rosenberg called the new rules “unprecedented.” “In all the years I’ve covered Guantanamo I have never been presented with these Navy base documents to sign. This week was the first time,” Rosenberg <a href=\"https://twitter.com/carolrosenberg/status/1167879954651992064?s=20\">wrote</a> in a separate tweet.</p><p data-block-key=\"uzvif\">Deputy General Counsel for The New York Times, David McCraw, sent a letter to Paul Ney, the general counsel of the Department of Defense, on behalf of a media coalition including the Times, The Associated Press, NPR and First Look Media, decrying the new rules. McCraw provided a copy of the letter to the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"5vwso\">“[T]he Naval Station is attempting to exercise a level of control over journalists and their newsgathering activities that has no apparent security justification and interferes with the First Amendment rights of the news media,” McCraw wrote. The existing OMC policy, McCraw wrote, has been effective, “striking a serviceable balance between the need for operational security, the protection of national security and the First Amendment rights of reporters.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2acer\">On Sept. 6 the Department of Defense formally rescinded the new press regulations, after offering unofficial reassurance on Sept. 2 that the rules would not go into effect.</p><p data-block-key=\"nr6s7\">“It’s a good thing that they’re stepping back and looking at the issue on a more global basis,” said David Schulz, an attorney at Ballard Spahr who has been closely involved in the fight for press access at Guantanamo over the years. “The existing ground rules were the result of extensive discussions with all the relevant stakeholders in 2010.”</p><p data-block-key=\"olsxh\">McCraw wrote in an email to the Tracker that he was glad the Department of Defense took seriously the concerns he voiced in his letter. “Guantanamo remains a vital story, and reporters need the freedom to report fully on the proceedings there,” he wrote. “We look forward to working with the Department of Defense to make sure that the rules in place take into account the needs of our news organizations.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTX2886S.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"imu73\">A soldier stands guard overlooking Camp Delta at Guantanamo Bay naval base in 2009.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Cuba",
"abbreviation": null
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"Media"
],
"tags": [
"military"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [
"Federal government: Agency"
],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Denial of Access"
],
"targeted_journalists": [],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": [
"Change in policy or practice"
]
},
{
"title": "Tech journalist subpoenaed in ongoing bitcoin lawsuit",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/tech-journalist-subpoenaed-ongoing-bitcoin-lawsuit/",
"first_published_at": "2019-09-27T16:53:19.714292Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-07-15T20:27:55.654825Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-07-15T20:27:55.482231Z",
"date": "2019-08-27",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Miami",
"longitude": -80.19366,
"latitude": 25.77427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"diy91\">Brendan Sullivan, a journalist at Modern Consensus, received a subpoena for all documents and communications between him and Craig Wright, an Australian computer scientist and businessman who has claimed to be the creator of bitcoin.</p><p data-block-key=\"g9xnf\">Wright is currently the defendant in a lawsuit brought against him by the estate of David Kleiman, Wright’s late partner. David’s brother, Ira Kleiman, is the executor of the estate and claims Wright attempted to steal his brother’s bitcoin holdings, now worth approximately $10 billion.</p><p data-block-key=\"ujtdw\">Wright agreed to an interview with Sullivan, giving him a scoop on the case before the courts made an announcement of the judge's order. The next day, on Aug. 27, 2019, someone was waiting outside of Sullivan’s home to serve him the subpoena, according to his <a href=\"https://modernconsensus.com/cryptocurrencies/bitcoin/i-got-subpoenaed-in-the-craig-wright-ira-kleiman-6-billion-satoshi-nakamoto-case-and-im-not-giving-them-jack/\">article</a> outlining the events.</p><p data-block-key=\"i4tye\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker reviewed the subpoena, which Sullivan posted with his article. It orders him to hand over any documents and communications between him and Wright since 2006 (before bitcoin was invented), listing out more than 110 items that count as “documents,” including their encrypted WhatsApp and Signal messages, every social media conversation, interview notes and transcripts, drafts of his article and any relevant documents protected by computer encryption.</p><p data-block-key=\"27i4c\">“I’m a journalist and the court has no right to any of my files, notes, thoughts or personal belongings. They are not getting anything from me,” Sullivan wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"t2ewq\">Sullivan told the Tracker that he refused to attend the deposition hearing scheduled for Sept. 10. His lawyer filed a motion to quash on Sept. 9, arguing that the breadth of documents requested suggests that the subpoena is a fishing expedition with no clear idea how, if at all, the documents are relevant to the case.</p><p data-block-key=\"qfz9x\">The filing also included an affidavit from Sullivan authenticating his article and stating that it truly and accurately reflects his interview with Wright. In addition to asking that the subpoena be quashed, they are asking for Kleiman to cover Sullivan’s legal fees.</p><p data-block-key=\"9edkk\">“I can fight this for years if I need to,” Sullivan told the Tracker. “What I really want is just to have my press freedom back.”</p><p data-block-key=\"znpu7\">On Sept. 20, a judge granted Kleiman’s attorney a 21-day extension to respond to the motion to quash the subpoena against Sullivan. In a joint filling from Wright and Kleiman they state, “The parties have been engaged in extensive settlement negotiations and have reached a non-binding agreement in principle to settle this matter.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6i0rv\">If a settlement is reached, Sullivan told the Tracker, it is likely that the subpoena against him would be dropped.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Sullivan_subpoena_screenshot.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"h2ofc\">A portion of a subpoena received by journalist Brendan Sullivan on Aug. 27, 2019, for documents and testimony related to his interviews with Craig Wright, a computer scientist who claimed to be the creator of bitcoin.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": "journalist communications or work product",
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": "Federal",
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Florida",
"abbreviation": "FL"
},
"updates": [
"(2020-11-13 00:00:00+00:00) Parties in crypto suit drop subpoena of journalist"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Brendan Sullivan (Modern Consensus)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [
"pending"
],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Subpoenas seeking Illinois-based government watchdog’s communications and documents dropped",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/subpoenas-seeking-illinois-based-government-watchdogs-communications-and-documents-dropped/",
"first_published_at": "2019-09-18T17:07:40.585091Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-07-05T18:33:01.827019Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-07-05T18:33:01.716328Z",
"date": "2019-08-27",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Effingham County",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"x95o1\">Illinois-based government watchdog blog Edgar County Watchdogs and its co-founder and reporter, Kirk Allen, received subpoenas for communications and documents relating to articles involving an ambulance service operating in Effingham County, Illinois.</p><p data-block-key=\"pwnk9\">As part of a federal civil rights lawsuit brought by Lakeside EMS, LLC, against the county, the two Aug. 27, 2019, subpoenas ordered Edgar County Watchdogs and Allen to produce communications or documents exchanged with Lakeside CEO Jerrod Estes, as well as with any “employee or agent” of Lakeside or the county. They also order the turnover of copies of articles written or generated relating to Effingham County, county Board Chairman Jim Niemann or Lakeside.</p><p data-block-key=\"80i3j\">“We wrote several articles about the process which the county used to award the contract to the current emergency service provider: it was done without putting it up for bid and board members have believed conflicts of interest because they have family members working there,” co-founder John Kraft told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “So, basically they’re asking for all of our sources and the information we gave back-and-forth.”</p><p data-block-key=\"48s41\">Allen, who wrote many of the articles, told the Tracker that the only documents he has that fall under the subpoena are ones he received from Effingham County through public records requests.</p><p data-block-key=\"0ejy0\">“They know exactly what I got from the county because I FOIA’ed it. So, why did they waste my time with a subpoena for records they already gave me?” Allen said. “It’s their way of trying to create a legal burden on us as well, because there’s no reason for that subpoena.”</p><p data-block-key=\"e69ba\">Allen also noted that Edgar County Watchdogs has been pursuing a Freedom of Information Act violation claim against the county for nearly two years, pressing for the release of documents related to the ambulance service investigation.</p><p data-block-key=\"6atxr\">The subpoenas ordered the documents produced by Sept. 16, but Kraft told the Tracker that the group’s attorney, government transparency and media lawyer Matt Topic, filed for an extension of 30 days on compliance.</p><p data-block-key=\"4liu7\">The federal case was dismissed without prejudice on Sept. 11 by U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Illinois Nancy Rosenstengel, and as a result the subpoenas were dropped.</p><p data-block-key=\"os7ho\">Bryan Kibler, the state attorney representing Effingham County, told the Tracker that the case was dismissed pending the results of the state case involving the ambulance service and the county. Kibler said that he would not rule out refiling the subpoenas against the Edgar County Watchdogs and Allen if necessary in the future.</p><p data-block-key=\"5psik\">The Tracker has documented multiple other subpoenas against Edgar County Watchdogs in 2019, including a <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/subpoena-issued-illinois-based-government-watchdogs-communications/\">subpoena for their communications and documents</a> relating to the College of DuPage and a <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/subpoena-issued-contents-illinois-government-watchdogs-dropbox-account/\">subpoena for the group’s Dropbox contents</a>. A motion to quash the former is still pending and the latter was quashed on Feb. 11.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/ECW_Ambulance.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"b6zu1\">A portion of a subpoena received by Edgar County Watchdogs for reporting materials</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": "journalist communications or work product",
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": "Federal",
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Illinois",
"abbreviation": "IL"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"Edgar County Watchdogs"
],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Kirk Allen (Edgar County Watchdogs)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [
"dropped"
],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Media barred from public lead water crisis meeting in New Jersey",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/media-barred-public-lead-water-crisis-meeting-new-jersey/",
"first_published_at": "2019-09-12T20:16:42.699416Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-12-21T16:50:24.622202Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-12-21T16:50:24.506250Z",
"date": "2019-08-27",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Newark",
"longitude": -74.17237,
"latitude": 40.73566,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"h3m8x\">The news media was barred from attending a public meeting on Newark, New Jersey’s ongoing lead contamination crisis on Aug. 27, 2019, by Mayor Ras Baraka’s communications team.</p><p data-block-key=\"oa1vf\">The meeting was called to “enlist members of the public as volunteers to canvas city homeowners for their participation in the planned replacement of lead-tainted service lines leading to individual properties,” NJTV News <a href=\"https://www.njtvonline.org/news/video/in-closing-newark-meeting-baraka-administration-crosses-swords-with-media-again/\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"l9yrv\">Though the mayor’s office had issued a press release in advance of the meeting, when media representatives arrived at Newark City Hall, they were told the press was not invited and were asked to leave.</p><p data-block-key=\"7nnyx\">Mark Bonamo, editor of TAPinto Newark, told NJTV News, “When we showed up at the door, we were generally all shocked and surprised that we were not let in to what we believed was going to be a public meeting in the public’s house: City Hall.”</p><p data-block-key=\"vfq8z\">In a <a href=\"https://www.njtvonline.org/news/video/in-closing-newark-meeting-baraka-administration-crosses-swords-with-media-again/\">statement</a>, Newark’s Director of Communications Frank Baraff said that the press was excluded in an effort to “encourag[e] an open dialogue with volunteers” and “so that residents will not shy away from helping us in these efforts.”</p><p data-block-key=\"xdk5k\">Media attorney and Rutgers law professor Bruce Rosen told NJTV News that the decision to exclude the press was unconstitutional: “Constitutionally, it’s a public forum. He invited the public and the media is part of the public. In fact, the media is a representative of the public.”</p><p data-block-key=\"lx8du\">On Aug. 28, Baraka’s administration announced that in the future it would not block the press from meetings about the lead water crisis, TAPinto <a href=\"https://www.tapinto.net/towns/newark/articles/baraka-administration-to-allow-press-access-to-lead-water-meetings\">reported</a>. The statement read, in part, “At future meetings, there will be media availability.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4ws1r\">As Rosen noted to TAPinto, uncertainty about the meaning of “media availability” remains.</p><p data-block-key=\"fm4ze\">The mayor’s office was not immediately available for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTR4FKNL.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"czahd\">Newark's mayor Ras Baraka addresses the media in this 2014 file photo.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "New Jersey",
"abbreviation": "NJ"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"Media"
],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [
"Local government: Mayor"
],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Denial of Access"
],
"targeted_journalists": [],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": [
"Government event"
]
}
]
