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{
"title": "Proposed bill would direct media coverage of mass shootings",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/proposed-bill-would-direct-media-coverage-of-mass-shootings/",
"first_published_at": "2023-10-24T17:37:42.162462Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-02-07T15:54:45.723206Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-02-07T15:54:45.622603Z",
"date": "2023-07-18",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"k9425\">Two Republican lawmakers jointly introduced a resolution on July 18, 2023, proposing guidelines for how the media should report on mass shootings.</p><p data-block-key=\"6mgq4\">Sen. Mike Lee of Utah and Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee proposed a <a href=\"https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-concurrent-resolution/15/text\">concurrent resolution</a> asserting that “irresponsible and sensationalistic reporting practices” are one of the key factors behind the prevalence of mass shootings in the United States. They also alleged that the press routinely covers the shooter more than the victims, satisfying the attacker’s desire for “notoriety and infamy.”</p><p data-block-key=\"b1g71\">The two called on the media to “voluntarily and responsibly” change its approach by, for instance, not naming alleged perpetrators or promoting the shooter’s ideology or advocacy for any particular public policy change. Instead, they said the media should focus coverage on memorializing victims and on the “heroism” of any law enforcement, first responders or bystanders.</p><p data-block-key=\"712mi\">Ken Paulson, director of the Free Speech Center at Middle Tennessee State University and former editor-in-chief of USA Today, <a href=\"https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2023/08/15/congress-resolution-on-media-coverage-of-shootings-raises-concerns-first-amendment-experts/70447777007/\">told The Tennessean</a> that any attempt by the government to stipulate how the media should operate raises immediate First Amendment concerns.</p><p data-block-key=\"15hhn\">Paulson also challenged the lawmakers’ assertion that the press voraciously covers every mass shooting, saying that while many newsrooms have independently reduced coverage to avoid inspiring copycats, the sheer number of incidents has made the coverage decision for them.</p><p data-block-key=\"eaac7\">“Mass murders now happen so often that they no longer get the same level of attention from the news media,” he said. “I believe the public sometimes confuses the coverage of unrelenting mass murders with excessive coverage of a single event.”</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"0shi0\">Sen. Mike Lee of Utah speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., in March 2022. Lee and Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee jointly proposed a bill in July 2023 that proposed guidelines for how journalists should cover mass shootings.</p>",
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{
"title": "Colorado reporter says he was assaulted by subject of reporting",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/colorado-reporter-says-he-was-assaulted-by-subject-of-reporting/",
"first_published_at": "2023-09-21T19:57:35.433577Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-09-21T19:57:35.433577Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-09-21T19:21:39.440717Z",
"date": "2023-07-14",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Silverton",
"longitude": -107.66451,
"latitude": 37.81194,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"xfd58\">Reporter Reuben Schafir of The Durango Herald said he was assaulted at a concert in Silverton, Colorado, on July 14, 2023, in retaliation for his reporting.</p><p data-block-key=\"8icnp\">According to Schafir, a subject of two <a href=\"https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/silverton-locals-caught-in-avalanche-one-critically-injured/\">May</a> <a href=\"https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/skiers-recall-exacting-rescue-after-silverton-avalanche/\">stories</a> about a group of Silverton skiers caught in an avalanche walked up behind him at the concert, slowly poured a beer over his head and told him, “Go fuck yourself.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8rn09\">Schafir believes that the person attacked him because he “felt that the full narrative was not contained in my reporting, despite the fact that it was based off a first-person account posted to social media and official statements from first responders.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dnpde\">The reporter also believes the individual may have acted because, as Schafir later learned, he had not notified all of his family members about the avalanche before the stories were published.</p><p data-block-key=\"6v1c1\">Schafir said he offered to talk with the individual after the stories were published, but that he did not respond. Schafir said he does not intend to file charges.</p><p data-block-key=\"i1qq\">“I stand by the reporting,” he said. “Obviously having a beer dumped on you is a small offense in the larger scheme of what reporters go through — but it felt worthwhile to make a note of it as it speaks to some of the unique hardships that come with being a small town reporter."</p></div>",
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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"name": "Colorado",
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"Assault"
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"Reuben Schafir (The Durango Herald)"
],
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{
"title": "WSAZ-TV publishes government document after judge ends protective order",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/wsaz-tv-publishes-government-document-after-judge-ends-protective-order/",
"first_published_at": "2023-09-13T20:37:57.691359Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-04-11T19:32:22.102150Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-04-11T19:32:22.022144Z",
"date": "2023-07-14",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Charleston",
"longitude": -81.63262,
"latitude": 38.34982,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"jqtmm\">West Virginia television station WSAZ, which had sued a state agency over access to documents that included a contentious draft letter terminating a senior official, was freed to publish the letter on Aug. 28, 2023, after Kanawha County Circuit Judge Kenneth Ballard <a href=\"https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23929958/order-denying-defendants-motion-to-protect-and-dissolving-temporary-protective-order.pdf\">lifted a temporary protective order</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"9sr0o\">In May 2022, WSAZ sued to access documents from the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources after the department had <a href=\"https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23929959/wvdhhr-foia-denial.pdf\">rebuffed an earlier Freedom of Information Act request</a>. The station was, in part, seeking records related to the termination of the agency’s deputy secretary by its top administrator.</p><p data-block-key=\"670k3\">Ballard ruled in favor of the station, requiring the release of the requested documents, with the exception of the draft termination letter itself. But when the agency sent a PDF with hundreds of pages to the station in July 2023, it inadvertently included the letter. When the agency learned of the error, it asked that the letter be deleted. The station refused to delete it, so the agency asked the court to prevent its publication.</p><p data-block-key=\"frvc0\">On July 14, Ballard issued a temporary protective order barring disclosure of the letter’s contents. Ultimately, however, he determined a permanent bar would represent an unconstitutional prior restraint, so in August he lifted the protective order, <a href=\"https://www.wsaz.com/2023/08/28/wsaz-obtains-dhhr-deputy-secretary-termination-letter/\">allowing the station to publish the letter</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"bs8r8\">“The U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly held,” the judge wrote in his decision, “that the news media has a First Amendment right, absent the government’s demonstration of a ‘state interest of the highest order,’ to publish information about a matter of public concern that it has lawfully obtained, regardless of whether the news media’s source violated the law in providing that information.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ft190\">Claire Magee Ferguson, an attorney with WSAZ’s parent company Gray Media, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, “Judge Ballard’s ruling underlined that our daily pursuit of public information is a necessary, worthy fight. WSAZ and Gray Media were thrilled to receive judicial confirmation that the ‘overriding interest of justice’ inevitably sides with free speech.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fmqe2\">The agency did not respond to requests for comment from the Tracker.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ufvnj\">A portion of the decision, filed Aug. 28, 2023, lifting the temporary restraining order that held West Virginia television station WSAZ couldn’t publish a government document it received by mistake.</p>",
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"name": "West Virginia",
"abbreviation": "WV"
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"WSAZ-TV"
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{
"title": "Pennsylvania cameraman struck by pellet gun on assignment",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/pennsylvania-cameraman-struck-by-pellet-gun-on-assignment/",
"first_published_at": "2023-07-24T15:22:38.458760Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-07-24T15:26:05.678081Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-07-24T15:26:05.565723Z",
"date": "2023-07-11",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Allentown",
"longitude": -75.49018,
"latitude": 40.60843,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"kjxer\">A photojournalist for WFMZ-TV in Allentown, Pennsylvania, was hit multiple times by airsoft projectiles while on assignment on July 11, 2023.</p><p data-block-key=\"95bii\">One of the objects struck the photojournalist in the corner of the eye, causing an irritation but no lingering injuries and did not require medical attention, WFMZ-TV News Director Brad Rinehart told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker via email.</p><p data-block-key=\"343qc\">A fellow reporter was not hit and no equipment was affected or damaged, Rinehart added. He declined to name the news staffers.</p><p data-block-key=\"7ms2h\">The photojournalist and the reporter were at the scene of a homicide that had occurred a few days earlier inside a home on the 300 block of North 16th Street in Allentown when “a person in a passing car fired shots from an airsoft gun,”<a href=\"https://www.lehighvalleylive.com/news/2023/07/wfmz-tv-69-news-crew-at-homicide-scene-hit-by-airsoft-gun-projectiles.html\"> lehighvallylive.com</a> reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"d0602\">“The photojournalist was taking pictures with his phone, and not a full-fledged television camera, at the time of the attack,” Rinehart said. “He was not wearing station-branded attire, and he was across the street from the branded news vehicle.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8pith\">Rinehart said he had no evidence that the attack was aimed at the staffer due to his job. “On the other hand, [the photojournalist] had been shooting with his TV camera earlier in the day and may have been identified by the shooter. Another reporter from our staff reported seeing a car circling the area on the morning of the attack,” Rinehart said.</p><p data-block-key=\"22oi8\">On the evening of the attack, WFMZ-TV News Anchor Rob Vaughn, with the station for more than 35 years, tweeted: “Awful: Today a<a href=\"https://twitter.com/69News\"> @69News</a> crew covering a 16th St,<a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/Allentown?src=hashtag_click\"> #Allentown</a> homicide was *shot at* by someone w/ a pellet gun (Airsoft?) fired from a passing car. Pellets hit our photographer in the head, including face. He's OK. If you know anything about it, call<a href=\"https://twitter.com/AllentownPolice\"> @AllentownPolice</a>”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Awful: <br><br>Today a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/69News?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@69News</a> crew covering a 16th St, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/Allentown?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Allentown</a> homicide was *shot at* by someone w/ a pellet gun (Airsoft?) fired from a passing car. Pellets hit our photographer in the head, including face. He's OK. If you know anything about it, call <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AllentownPolice?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@AllentownPolice</a></p>— Rob Vaughn (@RobVaughnNews) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/RobVaughnNews/status/1678949535882661889?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 12, 2023</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=\"kjxer\">The incident, which was reported to the Allentown City Police, was confirmed by Capt. Kyle Pammer, who said no suspects had been named, nor any leads, and no arrests had been made as of July 19. Pammer also said the incident does not appear to be targeted and that the investigation is ongoing.</p><p data-block-key=\"ebtto\">In May, the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker<a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/philadelphia-news-crew-shot-at-with-pellets-during-live-broadcast/\"> reported</a> the assault of a WTXF-TV FOX29 news crew who was shot at with a pellet gun from a moving vehicle while reporting outside of City Hall in Philadelphia.</p></div>",
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"name": "Pennsylvania",
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{
"title": "Fox News subpoenaed by Trump attorneys for interview footage in Jan. 6 lawsuit",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/fox-news-subpoenaed-by-trump-attorneys-for-interview-footage-in-jan-6-lawsuit/",
"first_published_at": "2023-08-07T13:09:41.974599Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-10-02T14:04:59.866068Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-10-02T14:04:59.767738Z",
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"city": "Washington",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9ivkq\">Fox News Network was subpoenaed by former President Donald Trump’s legal team on July 11, 2023, for recordings and notes after ex-network host Tucker Carlson referenced an unaired interview he conducted with former U.S. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund.</p><p data-block-key=\"60j4l\">Trump is facing a <a href=\"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/60313941/smith-v-trump/\">lawsuit</a> filed by seven Capitol Police officers who were injured during the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol. On March 16, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals denied Trump’s request to reconsider his motion to dismiss the suit, as well as several others. Discovery in the case is now underway.</p><p data-block-key=\"e6a7\">Puck <a href=\"https://puck.news/trump-has-subpoenaed-fox-news-for-tuckers-unaired-jan-6-interview/\">reported</a> that Carlson spoke about his interview with Sund during a July 7 <a href=\"https://stayfreepodcastwithrussellbrand.podbean.com/e/tucker-carlson/\">podcast with Russell Brand</a>. According to Carlson, Sund claimed the Jan. 6 crowd was rife with federal agents. </p><p data-block-key=\"bsft\">Trump now seeks a copy of the recording and all communications referencing the interview, according to a <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.234873/gov.uscourts.dcd.234873.227.1.pdf\">copy of the subpoena</a> reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"38fj4\">After receiving the subpoena, Fox News wrote Trump’s legal team arguing that the materials are protected under reporter’s privilege and suggested that they could obtain the information by deposing Sund himself, according to Puck. <a href=\"https://www.mediaite.com/tv/fox-news-reportedly-fighting-back-against-trump-subpoena-for-tucker-carlson-jan-6-interview/\">Mediaite reported</a> that Sund recently published a book about the riots.</p><p data-block-key=\"b4kco\">Fox News did not respond to a request for comment as of publication.</p><p data-block-key=\"dovf1\">On Aug. 10, Carlson, who was fired from Fox News the previous April, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TuckerCarlson/status/1689783814594174976\">published</a> a recorded interview he conducted with Sund on the social platform X, writing that it took place because Fox News opted against airing the previous one. </p><p data-block-key=\"2q9to\"><i>Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to include details from the subpoena and Tucker Carlson’s second interview with Steven Sund.</i></p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"as1x8\">A portion of the subpoena issued to Fox News on July 11, 2023, seeking the recording and notes from an interview host Tucker Carlson held with former U.S. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund in connection with a lawsuit against former President Donald Trump.</p>",
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"Subpoena/Legal Order"
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{
"title": "LA Times journalists accused by police union of ‘stalking’",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/la-times-journalists-accused-by-police-union-of-stalking/",
"first_published_at": "2023-07-20T22:02:22.145424Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-07-20T22:02:22.145424Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-07-20T22:02:13.555079Z",
"date": "2023-07-10",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ruzdm\">Two Los Angeles Times reporters were accused of “stalking” by the city’s police union, which emailed the charge to its more than 9,000 members on July 10, 2023, after the pair went to an officer’s home to ask for comment for a forthcoming article.</p><p data-block-key=\"2r7kc\">Reporters Brittny Mejia and Libor Jany <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-07-14/lapd-refused-to-id-the-officers-behind-a-huge-fireworks-explosion-now-we-have-their-names\">were investigating</a> the June 2021 detonation of a seized fireworks cache <a href=\"https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/south-la-los-angeles-illegal-fireworks-explosion-lapd-bomb-squad-timeline/2926329/\">that went awry</a>, seriously injuring 17 people and damaging homes, businesses and vehicles on a South L.A. residential block. The Los Angeles Police Department repeatedly declined requests to identify the bomb squad officers involved, citing existing law, but the journalists were ultimately able to uncover their identities.</p><p data-block-key=\"9tv89\">Prior to publication, on July 8, Mejia and Jany went to the homes of several officers without incident, the Times <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-07-14/times-reports-what-the-lapd-wanted-buried-drawing-outrage-from-police-officials-union\">reported</a>. Then the two arrived at the home of Sgt. Stefanie Alcocer, who had been suspended for 10 days for her role in the blast.</p><p data-block-key=\"a93bn\">The journalists identified themselves and asked Alcocer if she’d like to provide comment, as their article would make her identity public for the first time. Alcocer, who denied her role in the incident, made a call, took their business cards, then asked them to leave. Mejia and Jany did so.</p><p data-block-key=\"74f6p\">After the journalists left, the Times reported that Jany noticed a missed call from LAPD spokesperson Capt. Kelly Muniz. When he called her back, Muniz reprimanded him for approaching Alcocer at home. LAPD Chief Michel Moore also called Jany and Times Executive Editor Kevin Merida with similar complaints.</p><p data-block-key=\"eu3rd\">In a subsequent interview over text, Moore told the Times, “Such unannounced visits unnecessarily create fear and intimidation on the part of our people and their family (including children) during a time in which we have individuals calling for violence against police officers.”</p><p data-block-key=\"bvh6p\">Two days after the door-knocking, the Los Angeles Police Protective League — a union representing rank-and-file LAPD officers — sent an email to its members asserting that it was “unacceptable” for reporters to approach officers at their homes.</p><p data-block-key=\"e06oe\">The email alleged that Jany and Mejia had engaged in “stalking” and were “following officers to their homes,” the Times reported. The message also included photos of Mejia and Jany and identified them by name, according to a screenshot Mejia <a href=\"https://twitter.com/brittny_mejia/status/1679927245669011456\">posted on Twitter</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"anv5c\">“You do not have to open your door to these individuals,” the email said. “You do not have to engage with them at all, and if they persist in ringing your doorbell or banging on your door, do not open it as their motives are suspect.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Last weekend, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/liborjany?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@liborjany</a> and I door knocked LAPD bomb squad technicians to give them a chance to respond to our story. <br><br>The police union then circulated our photos to thousands of its members and accused us of following officers home. We didn’t. <a href=\"https://t.co/Xg0GHBmlyf\">https://t.co/Xg0GHBmlyf</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/XxdIlHbXzy\">pic.twitter.com/XxdIlHbXzy</a></p>— Brittny Mejia (@brittny_mejia) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/brittny_mejia/status/1679927245669011456?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 14, 2023</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=\"ruzdm\">Tom Saggau, a spokesperson for the union, told the Times that union leaders decided it was necessary to alert officers, as many are on edge following the publishing of thousands of officer photos online.</p><p data-block-key=\"42qnt\">A roster of more than 9,000 officers and their photos was released to Knock LA reporter Ben Camacho in September 2022 and subsequently published by the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition. In April, following backlash from the LAPD and union, the city of Los Angeles <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/los-angeles-sues-journalist-in-attempt-to-claw-back-photos-of-police-officers/\">filed a lawsuit against Camacho</a> in an attempt to claw back the photos.</p><p data-block-key=\"7fmbd\">Saggau did not respond to questions sent via text by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. The LAPD declined to comment further when reached by email.</p><p data-block-key=\"7vh22\">Neither Mejia nor Jany responded to emailed requests for comment. But Times Executive Editor Merida, in a statement to the newspaper, defended the journalists’ actions as routine newsgathering.</p><p data-block-key=\"6cbjd\">“They are making an effort to give the subjects of their reporting an opportunity to speak for themselves and share their version of events,” Merida said. “As such, they are upholding the principles of journalism.”</p></div>",
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{
"title": "California reporter assaulted at meeting as man grabs camera",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/california-reporter-assaulted-at-meeting-as-man-grabs-camera/",
"first_published_at": "2023-09-12T21:20:16.164021Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-09-12T21:20:16.164021Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-09-12T21:18:33.603221Z",
"date": "2023-07-06",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Cottonwood",
"longitude": -121.97108,
"latitude": 38.65824,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"r2ogh\">Journalist Doni Chamberlain said she was assaulted by conservative activists in Cottonwood, California, on July 6, 2023, after they surrounded her at a meeting and demanded she leave.</p><p data-block-key=\"25mmo\">Chamberlain, publisher and owner of A News Cafe, an online news magazine, was eventually escorted out of the gathering by deputies from the Shasta County Sheriff's Department. She has since filed charges against one of the activists, Mark Kent.</p><p data-block-key=\"dnmub\">Chamberlain said that at one point Kent, who the Redding Record Searchlight <a href=\"https://www.redding.com/story/news/local/2023/06/06/shasta-leaders-face-outcry-for-lax-stance-to-use-of-n-word-at-meeting/70290365007/\">describes</a> as a far-right political activist, ordered Chamberlain to leave and grabbed her phone, which was hanging from a lanyard around her neck as she <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/1210986218/videos/214092161599401/\">recorded the meeting</a> for Facebook Live.</p><p data-block-key=\"3ej2\">“It caused the strap to snap my neck and pitch my head forward,” Chamberlain told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “It was momentarily like being hanged by my own phone strap.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8rpfr\">Chamberlain said she went to the emergency room the next day and was initially diagnosed with whiplash and a concussion. Later, her primary care physician diagnosed her with a traumatic brain injury. She said she has continued to experience severe confusion, aches in her neck and upper back, and tingling in her left hand.</p><p data-block-key=\"5e2ci\">Chamberlain explained to the Tracker that she found the invitation for the first of a monthly series of meetings posted on Facebook by Jesse Lane. Lane, who <a href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/article278547069.html\">The Sacramento Bee calls</a> “an up-and-coming leader in the local far-right movement,” had <a href=\"https://anewscafe.com/2021/03/01/redding/zapata-and-friends-reveal-their-red-white-and-blueprint-to-reclaim-america/\">previously posted</a> of Chamberlain, “I think it’s time we remove her from our way of living.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1urcq\">Chamberlain said she was the only media present at what she considered a public gathering and added: “I maintain that as a journalist, covering meetings that most citizens are too afraid to attend, I had a right to be there to report.”</p><p data-block-key=\"48lrv\">But immediately after she arrived at the community center where the meeting was held, she said she was approached by Lane, who told her to leave. She was then approached by several more attendees, who repeated the demand. One attendee blocked Chamberlain’s camera with her hands and face. Chamberlain said that while she was surrounded, the meeting opened with approximately 200 people who prayed for her “salvation.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5rqh7\">Lane ultimately called police to report her for trespassing and four sheriff's deputies subsequently arrived to escort her out of the building.</p><p data-block-key=\"f9pp\">The sheriff’s office told the Tracker via email that the district attorney’s office for Shasta County is reviewing Chamberlain’s case, but declined to release the report of the sheriff’s investigation.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"530c3\">Journalist Doni Chamberlain shows the lanyard that was around her neck when a man grabbed at it, giving her whiplash, as she recorded a July 2023 meeting of conservative activists in Cottonwood, California.</p>",
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"name": "California",
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{
"title": "Journalist subpoenaed five times in legal feud over boxing match",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-subpoenaed-five-times-in-legal-feud-over-boxing-match/",
"first_published_at": "2023-11-02T17:39:40.647351Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-11-02T18:38:50.017100Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-11-02T18:38:49.911620Z",
"date": "2023-06-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"qayn8\">Journalist Lance Pugmire was subpoenaed on June 30, 2023, as part of a lawsuit around a major boxing match he covered in 2015 while a reporter at the Los Angeles Times, according to court documents reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"8mjih\">It was one of <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?targeted_journalists=Lance+Pugmire&legal_order_type=SUBPOENA&legal_order_target=JOURNALIST&categories=Subpoena%2FLegal+Order\">five subpoenas</a> Pugmire received in a plaintiff’s long-running lawsuit around finder’s fees for a 2015 boxing match between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. The match broke pay-per-view records at more than $400 million in sales, as Pugmire himself <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-sn-mayweather-pacquiao-ppv-record-20150512-story.html\">reported</a> for the Times.</p><p data-block-key=\"cidb2\">The plaintiff in the suit claims that Showtime, which televised the fight, as well as Pacquiao and his trainer, Frederick Roach, promised him a finder’s fee for helping to negotiate the fight. The plaintiff first subpoenaed Pugmire for testimony in 2018 to have him confirm that quotations from Roach in Pugmire’s articles about the fight were accurately attributed. That subpoena was quashed on procedural grounds.</p><p data-block-key=\"ci55t\">The plaintiff, Showtime, Pacquiao and his trainer each subpoenaed the journalist for his testimony in June 2023 after a Showtime executive referenced a conversation with Pugmire in another deposition. The plaintiff also demanded that Pugmire produce correspondence with Showtime, the executive who had been deposed, and other executives involved in planning the fight.</p><p data-block-key=\"3bfbb\">On July 11, Pugmire objected to all of the subpoenas and refused to testify. The plaintiff then filed a motion to compel Pugmire’s cooperation with his subpoena. Defendants Showtime and Paramount Global, its parent company, also filed a motion to compel, claiming that Pugmire’s testimony would reveal “witness tampering” by the plaintiff.</p><p data-block-key=\"6ikhs\">In their opposition to the motions, Pugmire’s attorneys argued that California Shield Law and the reporter’s privilege wholly protect Pugmire. “The free flow of information to the public is jeopardized when litigants attempt to use the coercive power of the Court to turn journalists into witnesses and commandeer independent newsgathering efforts for parties’ private aims,” they wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"7k8qm\">On Sept. 11, the court denied the motions to compel, agreeing that forcing Pugmire to comply would violate the state’s shield law and reporter’s privilege.</p><p data-block-key=\"d0sse\">Pugmire’s attorney Karl Olson told the Tracker in October 2023 the parties should have been more respectful of the importance of the shield law. “It’s unfortunate that Mr. Pugmire and the Times were dragged into this not once, but twice,” he said.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"r75d5\">Boxers Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao meet ahead of their 2015 match. Journalist Lance Pugmire was subpoenaed five times as part of a lawsuit involving the match and his coverage of it while at the Los Angeles Times.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"name": "California",
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{
"title": "Reporters caught in EPA records dispute; Louisiana sues to obtain documents",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporters-caught-in-epa-records-dispute-louisiana-sues-to-obtain-documents/",
"first_published_at": "2024-02-12T15:59:51.736671Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-03-01T16:13:06.822662Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-03-01T16:13:06.627779Z",
"date": "2023-06-29",
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"city": "Baton Rouge",
"longitude": -91.18747,
"latitude": 30.44332,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"tz4zu\">Nine journalists and their news outlets are embroiled in a legal dispute between Louisiana and the federal government that started June 29, 2023, when the state sought communications between the reporters and a federal agency, according to legal documents reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"6j65r\">Gov. Jeff Landry initiated the Freedom of Information Act request with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency when he was the state’s attorney general. His administration has since continued his pursuit of the records, which relate to a <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/06/27/epa-investigation-louisiana-environmental-justice/\">since-shuttered EPA investigation</a> into “Cancer Alley,” a heavily polluted area primarily inhabited by Black residents. The state’s record request goes back to March 2021 and also seeks communications between the EPA and environmental activist groups.</p><p data-block-key=\"9klv\">Named in the state’s initial FOIA request were Halle Parker and/or news site Nola.com; Morgan Radford and/or MSNBC; Timothy Puko, Darryl Fears and Michael Phillis, and/or The Washington Post; Oliver Laughland and/or The Guardian; Anna McAllister and/or television station WGNO; Mike Smith and/or The Advocate newspaper; and Bobbi-Jeanne Misick and/or public radio station WWNO.</p><p data-block-key=\"1qtca\">Louisiana’s Deputy Solicitor General Joseph Scott St. John explained the records request in an August <a href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24388454-st-john-letter-to-epa#document/p2/a2424640\">letter to the EPA, in which he said,</a> “It has become apparent to the State from highly specific press inquiries that the EPA has been prodigiously leaking information to the press.” St. John did not cite any examples.</p><p data-block-key=\"firdj\">After the EPA said it would take more than a year to complete the records request, the state <a href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24388441-01\">filed a FOIA-related suit</a> on Dec. 19, 2023, seeking speedier release of the documents. The EPA was <a href=\"https://www.nola.com/news/politics/la-seeks-communications-from-journalists-in-epa-lawsuit/article_6dbb247a-c1f4-11ee-810c-471036efb78a.html\">reported</a> to have since sent the state 965 pages of information and was expected to send more in February 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"bon8g\">Parker, one of the journalists targeted by the state, told <a href=\"https://veritenews.org/2024/01/26/state-sues-epa-for-records-of-communications-with-la-environmental-groups-journalists/\">Verite News</a> she was surprised to learn she was part of its FOIA request. “I had never thought about a government agency looking to see what I had found out about them or what information I was seeking about topics in general. So it was just kind of eye opening to me.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5qld2\">Kai Falkenberg, U.S. general counsel for The Guardian, whose reporter and news organization was also named in the FOIA suit, <a href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/feb/02/louisiana-sues-epa-emails-journalists-cancer-alley-residents?mc_cid=73590f461e\">said</a>, “We are deeply concerned by what appears to be an attempt to intimidate journalists and interfere with their ability to report on alarming matters of environmental injustice.”</p><p data-block-key=\"98usb\">Rep. Troy Carter, whose district includes Cancer Alley, also told The Guardian, “The first amendment protects the right to free speech. The government should not have any appearance of targeting private individuals in a manner that could inhibit freedom.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6k52u\">Freedom of the Press Foundation, which oversees the operation of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, characterized the state’s action as “highly problematic.” Seth Stern, FPF’s director of advocacy, <a href=\"https://www.nola.com/news/politics/la-seeks-communications-from-journalists-in-epa-lawsuit/article_6dbb247a-c1f4-11ee-810c-471036efb78a.html\">told Nola.com</a>, “The Freedom of Information Act is intended as a tool for Americans to obtain information about what government is up to, not for governments to obtain information about what reporters are up to.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"yv9o0\">In his role as state attorney general, Jeff Landry, seen speaking at a 2022 conference, initiated a public records request that involves communications between reporters and a federal agency. He’s continued to pursue the records as governor.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "Louisiana",
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"categories": [
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"targeted_journalists": [
"Halle Parker (Nola.com)",
"Morgan Radford (MSNBC)",
"Timothy Puko (The Washington Post)",
"Darryl Fears (The Washington Post)",
"Michael Phillis (The Washington Post)",
"Oliver Laughland (The Guardian)",
"Anna McAllister (WGNO)",
"Mike Smith (The Advocate)",
"Bobbi-Jeanne Misick (WWNO)"
],
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{
"title": "Journalist says public official shoved him after town meeting",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-says-public-official-shoved-him-after-town-meeting/",
"first_published_at": "2023-10-26T17:44:35.976123Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-10-26T17:44:35.976123Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-10-26T17:34:16.435896Z",
"date": "2023-06-26",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Vestal",
"longitude": -76.05381,
"latitude": 42.08507,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"2uhva\">Independent journalist John Solak contends he was shoved by the town supervisor for Vestal, New York, on June 26, 2023, while attempting to interview a town board member about his arrest, Solak told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"bnum9\">Solak, who posts regularly using the handle <a href=\"https://twitter.com/BinghamtonDaily?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor\">@BinghamtonDaily</a> on X, formerly known as Twitter, said that after a town board meeting at the town hall, he followed Councilman Stephen Donnelly out of the meeting room to where Donnelly exited the building. In a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/BinghamtonDaily/status/1673456678891560960\">video</a> Solak shot of the encounter on an iPad, a man he identifies as Town Supervisor John Schaffer shouts, “Hey, get out of here!” Schaffer then positions himself between Solak and the exit, telling him that the exit is “not for you.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9jkcp\">Solak told the Tracker, “He made contact with a body move on me and the iPad, which I used as a shield, causing me to lose balance.” He added that he would characterize Schaffer’s actions as a physical assault, but did not file a complaint.</p><p data-block-key=\"qj5a\">In the video, Schaffer then instructs a woman standing nearby, identified later by Solak as Councilwoman Patty Fitzgerald, to call the police. Solak leaves the town hall building through a different exit, before the police arrive.</p><p data-block-key=\"9g6j5\">Solak, who told the Tracker he has been attending local government meetings for about 50 years, said that he went to the emergency room later that day because, “as a heart [disease] patient, … the event caused more than a little stress.”</p><p data-block-key=\"198fr\">Schaffer subsequently filed an incident report with the Vestal Police Department in which he reported that “when he was attempting to prevent John Solak from speaking with [Donnelly], he was struck by Solak’s arm and in the chest.” Schaffer declined to prosecute. He did not respond to multiple requests for comment.</p></div>",
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{
"title": "Journalist subpoenaed for testimony by boxer Manny Pacquiao",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-subpoenaed-for-testimony-by-boxer-manny-pacquiao/",
"first_published_at": "2023-11-02T18:08:57.498030Z",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"1fmsm\">Journalist Lance Pugmire was subpoenaed on June 22, 2023, as part of a lawsuit around a major boxing match he covered in 2015 while a reporter at the Los Angeles Times, according to court documents reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"7ersb\">It was one of <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?targeted_journalists=Lance+Pugmire&legal_order_type=SUBPOENA&legal_order_target=JOURNALIST&categories=Subpoena%2FLegal+Order\">five subpoenas</a> Pugmire received in a plaintiff’s long-running lawsuit around finder’s fees for a 2015 boxing match between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. The match broke pay-per-view records at more than $400 million in sales, as Pugmire himself <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-sn-mayweather-pacquiao-ppv-record-20150512-story.html\">reported</a> for the Times.</p><p data-block-key=\"5157f\">The plaintiff in the suit claims that Showtime, which televised the fight, as well as Pacquiao and his trainer, Frederick Roach, promised him a finder’s fee for helping to negotiate the fight. The plaintiff first subpoenaed Pugmire for testimony in 2018 to have him confirm that quotations from Roach in Pugmire’s articles about the fight were accurately attributed. That subpoena was quashed on procedural grounds.</p><p data-block-key=\"34p4d\">The plaintiff, Showtime, Pacquiao and his trainer each subpoenaed the journalist for his testimony in June 2023, after a Showtime executive referenced a conversation with Pugmire in another deposition. On July 11, Pugmire objected to all of the subpoenas and refused to testify.</p><p data-block-key=\"eluu6\">Showtime and Paramount Global, its parent company, then filed a motion to compel, claiming that Pugmire’s testimony would reveal “witness tampering” by the plaintiff. The plaintiff filed his own motion to compel Pugmire’s cooperation with his subpoena.</p><p data-block-key=\"2l9f6\">In their opposition to the motions, Pugmire’s attorneys argued that California Shield Law and the reporter’s privilege wholly protect Pugmire. “The free flow of information to the public is jeopardized when litigants attempt to use the coercive power of the Court to turn journalists into witnesses and commandeer independent newsgathering efforts for parties’ private aims,” they wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"3u2g5\">On Sept. 11, the court denied the motions to compel, agreeing that forcing Pugmire to comply would violate the state’s shield law and reporter’s privilege.</p><p data-block-key=\"a4jaq\">Pugmire’s attorney Karl Olson told the Tracker in October 2023 the parties should have been more respectful of the importance of the shield law. “It’s unfortunate that Mr. Pugmire and the Times were dragged into this not once, but twice,” he said.</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"rly75\">Boxer Manny Pacquiao speaks at a press event ahead of his 2015 pay-per-view match with Floyd Mayweather Jr. As a defendant in a lawsuit around finder’s fees, Pacquiao subpoenaed journalist Lance Pugmire, who covered the match for the Los Angeles Times.</p>",
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{
"title": "Journalist subpoenaed by Showtime in boxing lawsuit",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-subpoenaed-by-showtime-in-boxing-lawsuit/",
"first_published_at": "2023-11-02T18:12:15.428189Z",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"gudq3\">Journalist Lance Pugmire was subpoenaed on June 22, 2023, as part of a lawsuit around a major boxing match he covered in 2015 while a reporter at the Los Angeles Times, according to court documents reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"8vdrf\">It was one of <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?targeted_journalists=Lance+Pugmire&legal_order_type=SUBPOENA&legal_order_target=JOURNALIST&categories=Subpoena%2FLegal+Order\">five subpoenas</a> Pugmire received in a plaintiff’s long-running lawsuit around finder’s fees for a 2015 boxing match between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. The match broke pay-per-view records at more than $400 million in sales, as Pugmire himself <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-sn-mayweather-pacquiao-ppv-record-20150512-story.html\">reported</a> for the Times.</p><p data-block-key=\"bdntt\">The plaintiff in the suit claims that Showtime, which televised the fight, as well as Pacquiao and his trainer, Frederick Roach, promised him a finder’s fee for helping to negotiate the fight. The plaintiff first subpoenaed Pugmire for testimony in 2018 to have him confirm that quotations from Roach in Pugmire’s articles about the fight were accurately attributed. That subpoena was quashed on procedural grounds.</p><p data-block-key=\"95erg\">The plaintiff, Showtime, Pacquiao and his trainer each subpoenaed the journalist for his testimony in June 2023, after a Showtime executive referenced a conversation with Pugmire in another deposition. On July 11, Pugmire objected to all of the subpoenas and refused to testify.</p><p data-block-key=\"5u6tg\">Showtime and Paramount Global, its parent company, then filed a motion to compel, claiming that Pugmire’s testimony would reveal “witness tampering” by the plaintiff. The plaintiff filed his own motion to compel Pugmire’s cooperation with his subpoena.</p><p data-block-key=\"1pt02\">In their opposition to the motions, Pugmire’s attorneys argued that California Shield Law and the reporter’s privilege wholly protect Pugmire. “The free flow of information to the public is jeopardized when litigants attempt to use the coercive power of the Court to turn journalists into witnesses and commandeer independent newsgathering efforts for parties’ private aims,” they wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"5aj5u\">On Sept. 11, the court denied the motions to compel, agreeing that forcing Pugmire to comply would violate the state’s shield law and reporter’s privilege.</p><p data-block-key=\"52qom\">Pugmire’s attorney Karl Olson told the Tracker in October 2023 the parties should have been more respectful of the importance of the shield law. “It’s unfortunate that Mr. Pugmire and the Times were dragged into this not once, but twice,” he said.</p></div>",
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{
"title": "Journalist subpoenaed for testimony by boxing trainer",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-subpoenaed-for-testimony-by-boxing-trainer/",
"first_published_at": "2023-11-02T17:58:26.450840Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-11-02T18:36:48.605698Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-11-02T18:36:48.517180Z",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ifumf\">Journalist Lance Pugmire was subpoenaed on June 22, 2023, as part of a lawsuit around a major boxing match he covered in 2015 while a reporter at the Los Angeles Times, according to court documents reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"bgnpr\">It was one of <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?targeted_journalists=Lance+Pugmire&legal_order_type=SUBPOENA&legal_order_target=JOURNALIST&categories=Subpoena%2FLegal+Order\">five subpoenas</a> Pugmire received in a plaintiff’s long-running lawsuit around finder’s fees for a 2015 boxing match between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. The match broke pay-per-view records at more than $400 million in sales, as Pugmire himself <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-sn-mayweather-pacquiao-ppv-record-20150512-story.html\">reported</a> for the Times.</p><p data-block-key=\"cihj\">The plaintiff in the suit claims that Showtime, which televised the fight, as well as Pacquiao and his trainer, Frederick Roach, promised him a finder’s fee for helping to negotiate the fight. The plaintiff first subpoenaed Pugmire for testimony in 2018 to have him confirm that quotations from Roach in Pugmire’s articles about the fight were accurately attributed. That subpoena was quashed on procedural grounds.</p><p data-block-key=\"a4ibr\">The plaintiff, Showtime, Pacquiao and his trainer each subpoenaed the journalist for his testimony in June 2023, after a Showtime executive referenced a conversation with Pugmire in another deposition. On July 11, Pugmire objected to all of the subpoenas and refused to testify.</p><p data-block-key=\"7vhro\">Showtime and Paramount Global, its parent company, then filed a motion to compel, claiming that Pugmire’s testimony would reveal “witness tampering” by the plaintiff. The plaintiff filed his own motion to compel Pugmire’s cooperation with his subpoena.</p><p data-block-key=\"3ohaj\">In their opposition to the motions, Pugmire’s attorneys argued that California Shield Law and the reporter’s privilege wholly protect Pugmire. “The free flow of information to the public is jeopardized when litigants attempt to use the coercive power of the Court to turn journalists into witnesses and commandeer independent newsgathering efforts for parties’ private aims,” they wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"9pjpl\">On Sept. 11, the court denied the motions to compel, agreeing that forcing Pugmire to comply would violate the state’s shield law and reporter’s privilege.</p><p data-block-key=\"1tgsv\">Pugmire’s attorney Karl Olson told the Tracker in October 2023 the parties should have been more respectful of the importance of the shield law. “It’s unfortunate that Mr. Pugmire and the Times were dragged into this not once, but twice,” he said.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"y1138\">Boxing trainer Frederick Roach takes questions ahead of the 2015 Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight. As a defendant in a lawsuit around finder’s fees, Roach subpoenaed journalist Lance Pugmire, who covered the match for the Los Angeles Times.</p>",
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{
"title": "Iowa media outlets, nonprofit settle open records suit with governor's office",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/iowa-media-outlets-nonprofit-settle-open-records-suit-with-governor/",
"first_published_at": "2023-07-07T18:00:53.448597Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-07-12T21:38:52.831508Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-07-12T21:38:52.689359Z",
"date": "2023-06-21",
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"city": "Des Moines",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"awse0\">Two media outlets and a government accountability nonprofit won a settlement in their open records lawsuit against Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds on June 21, 2023. The case was brought by the Bleeding Heartland blog, the Iowa Capital Dispatch and the Iowa Freedom of Information Council after their government records requests, including about the COVID pandemic, had gone unanswered for a year.</p><p data-block-key=\"o040\">The ACLU of Iowa <a href=\"https://www.aclu-ia.org/en/press-releases/district-court-approves-agreement-open-records-lawsuit\">filed</a> the lawsuit on behalf of the organizations in December 2021, after eight separate government record requests between April 2020 and April 2021, all renewed at least once, had been <a href=\"https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2021/12/21/aclu-iowa-sues-governor-kim-reynolds-failure-answer-public-record-requests-covid/8924037002/\">ignored</a> by the governor’s office. The organizations claimed that in doing so Reynolds had violated Iowa’s open records law. Within days of the lawsuit being filed, the governor released the requested records, blaming the delay on COVID-19.</p><p data-block-key=\"bugel\">The government’s attorneys argued that the case should be dismissed because the governor isn’t obligated to respond in a timely manner and had ultimately released the records. When the judge denied their request for dismissal, they appealed to the Iowa Supreme Court. On April 14, 2023, the court <a href=\"https://www.kcci.com/article/iowa-supreme-court-covid-19-public-records-lawsuit-aclu/43602280\">unanimously denied</a> the request and returned the case to the Polk County District Court, which <a href=\"https://www.aclu-ia.org/sites/default/files/05771_cvcv062945_orot_12141882.pdf\">approved</a> the <a href=\"https://www.aclu-ia.org/sites/default/files/settlement_agreement_-_file_stamped.pdf\">settlement agreement</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"9atls\">“The Iowa Supreme Court’s ruling was a significant victory not only for press freedom but for the public’s ability to access government records,” said Kathie Obradovich, editor-in-chief of the Iowa Capital Dispatch, in an email to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “It made clear that the governor’s office is subject to Iowa’s open records law and that the law’s provision that records requests be fulfilled within a reasonable period of time is, in fact, enforceable.”</p><p data-block-key=\"blusn\">Randy Evans, executive director of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council, said the organization was pleased with the outcome of the legal challenge. “The governor and her staff cannot ignore their obligations under the public records statute,” said Evans in an email to the Tracker, “even when doing so might be inconvenient or embarrassing.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fr8rr\">Under <a href=\"https://www.aclu-ia.org/en/press-releases/district-court-approves-agreement-open-records-lawsuit\">the terms of the settlement</a>, the governor’s office must pay the plaintiffs $135,000 to cover their legal fees (an amount <a href=\"https://www.kcci.com/article/iowa-governor-kim-reynolds-settles-open-records-lawsuit-filed-by-media-groups/44315877#\">approved</a> by the State Appeal Board) and undergo a one-year period of judicial oversight to make sure it continues to comply with Iowa’s open records law.</p><p data-block-key=\"72l8g\">“It's sad that we are still having to fight to make sure government officials follow those laws,” Laura Belin, lead author of Bleeding Heartland, <a href=\"https://www.aclu-ia.org/en/press-releases/district-court-approves-agreement-open-records-lawsuit\">told</a> the ACLU of Iowa. "Journalists need to be able to report on what's happening in our state government without unreasonable delays, especially during a public health emergency like the COVID-19 pandemic."</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"62lr1\">A portion of the June 2023 settlement agreement between Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and the Bleeding Heartland blog, the Iowa Capital Dispatch and the Iowa Freedom of Information Council that concluded their open records lawsuit.</p>",
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{
"title": "Three men charged with vandalizing homes of two NH radio journalists",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/three-men-charged-with-vandalizing-homes-of-two-nh-radio-journalists/",
"first_published_at": "2023-06-22T20:28:16.957955Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-12-09T19:00:33.659073Z",
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"date": "2023-06-15",
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"city": "Boston",
"longitude": -71.05977,
"latitude": 42.35843,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"mau2k\">Federal prosecutors <a href=\"https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/three-new-hampshire-men-charged-conspiring-harass-and-intimidate-two-journalists\">filed charges</a> against three New Hampshire men in Boston, Massachusetts, on June 15, 2023, for allegedly conspiring to harass and intimidate two radio journalists.</p><p data-block-key=\"8t8nf\">New Hampshire Public Radio’s Lauren Chooljian was the lead producer on a <a href=\"https://www.nhpr.org/2022-03-22/eric-spofford-granite-recovery-center-nh-sexual-misconduct\">March 2022 investigation</a> into New Hampshire businessman Eric Spofford and his alleged pattern of sexual misconduct and retaliation while CEO of a network of addiction rehabilitation centers.</p><p data-block-key=\"at11j\">On the night of April 24-25, 2022, <a href=\"https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/three-new-hampshire-men-charged-conspiring-harass-and-intimidate-two-journalists\">according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts</a>, Chooljian’s former residence in Hanover, New Hampshire, and NHPR News Director Dan Barrick’s home in Concord, New Hampshire, were vandalized with the word “CUNT” spray-painted in red letters on the front door. The home of Chooljian’s parents in Hampstead, New Hampshire, was also targeted, with the word painted across one of its garage doors and a rock thrown through a front window.</p><p data-block-key=\"dqkus\">Nearly a month later, on May 21, Chooljian’s current residence in Melrose, Massachusetts, was vandalized. The phrase “JUST THE BEGINNING” was spray-painted across the front of the house. Her parents’ home was also vandalized a second time.</p><p data-block-key=\"7gk02\">Following the last attack, Chooljian posted a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/laurenchooljian/status/1531730064353767425\">photo</a> of the damage on Twitter and condemned the attacks.</p><p data-block-key=\"6hifl\">"5 incidents of vandalism targeting journalists," she wrote. "Here's my house. It's not okay."</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">5 incidents of vandalism targeting journalists.<br><br>The c-word spray-painted in red on my parents’ garage. 2 separate times.<br><br>The c-word in red on <a href=\"https://twitter.com/danielbarrick?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@danielbarrick</a>’s front door. And on a house I used to live in. Bricks thrown through windows.<br><br>Here’s my house. It’s not okay. <a href=\"https://t.co/N6KJnOmsJt\">pic.twitter.com/N6KJnOmsJt</a></p>— Lauren Chooljian (@laurenchooljian) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/laurenchooljian/status/1531730064353767425?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 31, 2022</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=\"mau2k\">While Chooljian and her colleagues do not claim to know who was behind it, they <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/06/business/media/eric-spofford-new-hampshire-public-radio.html\">told The New York Times</a> earlier that they believe it’s connected to the investigation on Spofford. Spofford filed a defamation suit against Chooljian and three coworkers after the initial NHPR investigation was published, and the case was dismissed in April 2023. A judge <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/new-hampshire-public-radio-ordered-to-turn-over-interviews-notes/\">ordered Chooljian</a> on May 30 to turn over full recordings and notes from six interviews, including two with anonymous sources, to the court for review ahead of a possible refiling of the suit.</p><p data-block-key=\"f5fa5\">Three New Hampshire men — Tucker Cockerline, Michael Waselchuck and Keenan Saniatan — were each charged with “conspiring to commit stalking through interstate travel,” according to court records. Cockerline and Waselchuck were apprehended on June 16, but Saniatan remains at large.</p><p data-block-key=\"ddr25\">The men conspired with at least one other person — a close personal associate of Spofford — to retaliate against the NHPR journalists for the investigation, according to an <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.258415/gov.uscourts.mad.258415.4.1.pdf\">FBI affidavit</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"6dk98\">In a statement, Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy said: “Today’s charges should send a clear message that the Department of Justice will not tolerate harassment or intimidation of journalists. If you engage in this type of vicious and vindictive behavior you will be held accountable.”</p><p data-block-key=\"64nnn\">A preliminary hearing for Cockerline and Waselchuck was scheduled for June 20.</p></div>",
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"name": "Massachusetts",
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"(2023-09-08 15:23:00+00:00) Four men indicted for vandalizing journalists’ homes",
"(2024-08-27 00:00:00+00:00) First of four men sentenced to prison in journalist stalking case",
"(2024-09-09 00:00:00+00:00) Second of four men sentenced to prison in journalist stalking case",
"(2024-12-06 00:00:00+00:00) Last of four indicted in journalist stalking case is sentenced to prison",
"(2024-11-25 00:00:00+00:00) Third of four men sentenced to prison in journalist stalking case"
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"categories": [
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"Dan Barrick (New Hampshire Public Radio)"
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},
{
"title": "Publisher charged with harassment by former New York county supervisor",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/publisher-charged-with-harassment-by-former-new-york-county-supervisor/",
"first_published_at": "2024-05-16T19:26:52.140296Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-10-11T16:39:42.037336Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-10-11T16:39:41.925270Z",
"date": "2023-06-13",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Lake Luzerne",
"longitude": -73.83484,
"latitude": 43.31285,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"cyflk\">June Maxam, an investigative reporter and publisher of the North Country Gazette in Chestertown, New York, was charged with second-degree harassment on June 13, 2023, following a complaint filed against her by a former member of the Board of Supervisors in surrounding Warren County.</p><p data-block-key=\"9rksk\">Maxam told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she <a href=\"http://www.northcountrygazette.org/2022/10/24/seeber_residency/\">reported</a> in fall 2022 about questions of whether At-Large Supervisor Rachel Seeber Conine still resided in the town she represented. Seeber Conine announced her resignation from the position in November, <a href=\"https://poststar.com/news/local/seeber-to-resign-county-supervisor-post-to-focus-on-career-family/article_d43411a4-6fe7-11ed-9583-f7cc269344d4.html\">citing</a> her desire to focus on her family and career.</p><p data-block-key=\"dacf5\">Over the months that followed, Maxam said, Seeber Conine and her husband filed more than a dozen complaints against Maxam, all of which were dismissed for being fundamentally unsound. Seeber Conine filed her latest complaint against Maxam on May 25, 2023, alleging that the journalist was harassing her by continuously engaging in behaviors that caused her “annoyance or alarm.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8q0li\">In the complaint, Seeber Conine wrote that she had sent Maxam a cease and desist letter on Dec. 12, 2022, “and since then June has written articles lying about me, filing false statements with local and state agencies and publishing.” She also alleged that Maxam “sent these false and alarming statements to my place of employment trying to discredit me, embarrass me, and get my employer to fire me.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9d14q\">In April 2023, Maxam wrote an <a href=\"http://www.northcountrygazette.org/2023/04/09/expel-seeber/\">editorial</a> highlighting that the former supervisor had shared a promotion for a sale on firearms. According to Maxam, Seeber Conine alleged that Maxam then sent a link to the article to Seeber Conine’s employer.</p><p data-block-key=\"1dsko\">“I didn’t send the email, didn’t write the email, have no knowledge of the email she claims she received and now — a year later — they still can’t produce it because it doesn’t exist,” Maxam said.</p><p data-block-key=\"beq0s\">Maxam was issued a criminal summons based on Seeber Conine’s complaint, which ordered her to appear before the Justice Court of the Town of Lake Luzerne for arraignment on June 21, 2023. Maxam entered a not guilty plea on Aug. 16, according to court filings reviewed by the Tracker, after which her case was transferred among multiple courts following the recusal of several judges.</p><p data-block-key=\"1gp3k\">In an April 2024 filing, an attorney representing Maxam argued that the charges were an attempt to criminalize speech by a journalist and a newspaper that have served the community for more than 30 years.</p><p data-block-key=\"e8jsi\">“Rachel Seeber does not like articles that June Maxam writes in the North Country Gazette about her,” James Knox wrote. “Rachel Seeber attempted to rely on the influence of her husband — a retired member of Warren County Sheriff’s Department — to secure favorable treatment by New York State police, in getting the charges she wanted filed against a person she does not like, in a jurisdiction she wanted, to prohibit June Maxam from continuing to freely operate her paper.”</p><p data-block-key=\"bngg2\">The district attorney pursuing the charges, Emily Williams, argued in a filing that the assertion that Seeber Conine had shopped for a jurisdiction that would be favorable to them was unfounded. “Whether or not she personally felt like the Judge would dislike the defendant has no bearing on this case and is also completely irrelevant at this point due to the Town of Chester Judge recusing before a criminal summons was ever issued.”</p><p data-block-key=\"7pkol\">Williams also dismissed allegations that the complaints were part of a scheme to build a civil case against Maxam, noting, “Most of the time, there are civil remedies for crime victims in addition to criminal liability.”</p><p data-block-key=\"a95hs\">Maxam told the Tracker that neither Seeber Conine nor her husband have ever requested retractions or corrections from her or the Gazette. She confirmed in May that the charge against her is still pending.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Maxam_arrest.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"6rq4q\">A portion of a criminal summons issued to June Maxam, an investigative reporter and publisher of the North Country Gazette, on June 13, 2023, charging her with second-degree harassment and ordering her to appear in court later that month.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Lake Luzerne Town Court",
"arrest_status": "charged without arrest",
"release_date": null,
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
"updates": [
"(2024-07-29 00:00:00+00:00) Publisher acquitted of harassment charge involving former New York county supervisor"
],
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"categories": [
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"June Maxam (North Country Gazette)"
],
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},
{
"title": "NHPR ordered to turn over reporter interviews, notes",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/new-hampshire-public-radio-ordered-to-turn-over-interviews-notes/",
"first_published_at": "2023-06-12T21:23:05.252027Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-01-24T17:29:05.287959Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-01-24T17:29:05.191898Z",
"date": "2023-05-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Brentwood",
"longitude": -71.07284,
"latitude": 42.9787,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"kipli\">New Hampshire Public Radio Senior Reporter and Producer Lauren Chooljian was ordered on May 30, 2023, to turn over transcripts and notes in connection with a defamation lawsuit against the radio news service.</p><p data-block-key=\"43t02\">The underlying suit was filed in September 2022 by Eric Spofford, the subject of a March <a href=\"https://www.nhpr.org/2022-03-22/eric-spofford-granite-recovery-center-nh-sexual-misconduct\">investigation</a> into his alleged pattern of sexual misconduct and retaliation while CEO of a network of addiction rehabilitation centers. Chooljian was named as a defendant, along with Senior Reporter and Producer Jason Moon and News Director Dan Barrick.</p><p data-block-key=\"1m00u\">The lawsuit was dismissed on April 18, NHPR <a href=\"https://www.nhpr.org/nh-news/2023-04-18/judge-dismisses-defamation-suit-against-nhpr-filed-by-new-hampshire-drug-recovery-leader\">reported</a>. In his decision, Rockingham Superior Court Justice Daniel St. Hilaire wrote that Spofford had failed to provide evidence of actual malice, the legal burden that public figures must meet in order to pursue libel claims.</p><p data-block-key=\"e6a1c\">Then, on April 26, Spofford, seeking evidence of alleged malice ahead of refiling his complaint, <a href=\"https://int.nyt.com/data/documenttools/spofford%20discovery%20motion/09e5bc216700cd65/full.pdf\">asked the court</a> to order Chooljian to turn over full recordings and notes from six interviews, including those she conducted with two anonymous sources, as well as notes about and communications with two other sources.</p><p data-block-key=\"babe3\">Attorneys for NHPR filed <a href=\"https://int.nyt.com/data/documenttools/nhpr%20opposition%20to%20discovery/7908373aecf2c952/full.pdf\">an opposition to the request</a> on May 8, arguing that it would be an “extraordinary inversion of the usual order of operations.”</p><p data-block-key=\"cimrm\">“NHPR’s story was based on nearly 50 sources — 4 who are named, and 2 more whom Spofford acknowledges are real,” the NHPR filing said. “Spofford has failed to allege a factual basis for concluding that NHPR’s sources lied, let alone — as would be required to establish actual malice — that NHPR either knew that its story was false or acted with reckless disregard for its truth or falsity.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6ch8n\">But St. Hilaire largely <a href=\"https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/e2/98/406fe9ca46e4bc44204fc8273522/order-on-discovery.pdf\">granted the discovery request</a> on May 30, giving NHPR 40 days to provide the documents and transcripts of the interviews to the court. St. Hilaire ruled, however, that he would review the materials in private first in order to determine whether Chooljian or NHPR “displayed a reckless disregard for the truth by reporting a story they knew or suspected was false.” He also noted that the radio service would have the opportunity to appeal the release of any materials in the event that he finds they are subject to disclosure.</p><p data-block-key=\"ko0c\">Chooljian did not respond to a request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"20f9f\">The New York Times <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/06/business/media/eric-spofford-new-hampshire-public-radio.html\">reported</a> in June that shortly after Choolijan’s initial investigation was published, her home in Massachusetts was vandalized, as was her parents’ home and Barrick’s. Investigations into the attacks are ongoing, and Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan has said her office is looking into whether the attacks were connected to NHPR’s reporting, <a href=\"https://www.nhpr.org/nh-news/2023-06-01/judge-orders-nhpr-to-turn-over-unpublished-reporter-material-in-defamation-lawsuit\">according to NHPR</a>. Spofford has denied any involvement.</p><p data-block-key=\"1qpvs\"><i>Editor’s Note: Read more about the vandalism and updates on the investigation</i> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/three-men-charged-with-vandalizing-homes-of-two-nh-radio-journalists/\"><i>in the Tracker</i></a><i>.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Chooljian.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"7hrzd\">A portion of the May 30, 2023, order requiring New Hampshire Public Radio to turn over reporter Lauren Chooljian’s transcripts and notes in connection with a defamation suit against the news outlet.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "New Hampshire",
"abbreviation": "NH"
},
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"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
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"Lauren Chooljian (New Hampshire Public Radio)"
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},
{
"title": "California reporter subpoenaed to testify at murder trial",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/california-reporter-subpoenaed-to-testify-at-murder-trial/",
"first_published_at": "2023-11-09T21:53:51.810167Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-04-11T17:05:18.372002Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-04-11T17:05:18.248880Z",
"date": "2023-05-24",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Bakersfield",
"longitude": -119.01871,
"latitude": 35.37329,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"r30gp\">Reporter Ishani Desai was subpoenaed on May 24, 2023, to testify at a murder trial in connection with her reporting for The Bakersfield Californian. The subpoena was the third seeking information from Desai’s jailhouse interview with a co-defendant in the case.</p><p data-block-key=\"5mopb\">The dispute began after Desai interviewed Sebastian Parra for an <a href=\"https://www.bakersfield.com/news/man-indicted-in-shooting-death-of-corrections-counselor-denies-murder/article_c9ca6746-b555-11ed-8227-e3b918ad2c29.html\">article</a> published by the Californian on Feb. 26. Parra was a key witness in the murder indictment of another inmate, Robert Pernell Roberts, but was himself subsequently indicted as a co-defendant.</p><p data-block-key=\"2pa7i\">The newspaper was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/newspaper-subpoenaed-for-reporters-notes-from-jailhouse-interview/\">subpoenaed</a> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/newspaper-ordered-to-comply-with-subpoena-for-jailhouse-interview-notes/\">twice</a> earlier in the year seeking recordings from Desai’s interview or her questions and notes. While the first subpoena was quashed, a Kern County Superior Court judge upheld the second on May 10, giving the newspaper one week to turn over the materials. The newspaper refused and was found in contempt of court on May 24.</p><p data-block-key=\"5ppf2\">Desai was subpoenaed that same day to testify at Roberts’ trial, then scheduled for May 31, according to court filings reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"aob7u\">After an appeal by the newspaper, California's Court of Appeals for the Fifth Appellate District <a href=\"https://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/documents/F086308.PDF\">ruled on Nov. 7</a> that the lower court was incorrect in holding the Californian in contempt, but justified in ordering the newspaper to turn over Desai’s newsgathering materials.</p><p data-block-key=\"9srn3\">The ruling acknowledged the subpoena for Desai’s trial testimony, but wrote that the appellate court was not judging its enforceability.</p><p data-block-key=\"4hlmt\">Desai did not respond to a request for comment. The Californian’s attorney, Thomas Burke, said when reached by email that he is still discussing next steps with his clients.</p><p data-block-key=\"6lqoi\">Meanwhile, Parra’s trial has been placed on hold pending the resolution of Desai and the Californian’s subpoenas, Courthouse News <a href=\"https://www.courthousenews.com/california-newspaper-must-produce-reporters-notes-in-connection-with-murder-case-appellate-court-rules/\">reported</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Desai.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ojdzh\">A portion of the subpoena issued to reporter Ishani Desai on May 24, 2023, ordering her to appear to testify at a murder trial concerning a jailhouse interview she conducted for The Bakersfield Californian.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
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"categories": [
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],
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},
{
"title": "Photojournalist threatened, chased by woman wielding machete",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-threatened-chased-by-woman-wielding-machete/",
"first_published_at": "2023-06-01T22:08:03.340041Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-27T20:35:22.165067Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-27T20:35:22.027562Z",
"date": "2023-05-23",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"t2ir6\">Two New York Post journalists were threatened and chased by an adjunct professor at Hunter College when attempting to interview her at her New York City apartment on May 23, 2023.</p><p data-block-key=\"9si85\">The Post <a href=\"https://nypost.com/2023/05/23/nyc-college-professor-shellyne-rodriguez-holds-machete-to-post-reporters-neck/\">reported</a> that photojournalist Robert Miller and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/new-york-post-reporter-threatened-kicked-by-woman-wielding-machete/\">reporter Reuven Fenton</a> knocked on the door of Shellyne Rodriguez’s Bronx apartment to ask about a viral video of her confronting anti-abortion students at the college earlier in the month.</p><p data-block-key=\"3r95u\">“Get the f–k away from my door, or I’m gonna chop you up with this machete!” Rodriguez shouted after Fenton identified himself as a Post reporter.</p><p data-block-key=\"18bla\">In footage published by the outlet, Rodriguez then opens the door and holds a machete to Fenton’s neck, yelling at him to get away from her door before going back into the apartment.</p><p data-block-key=\"dd4tl\">The Post <a href=\"https://nypost.com/2023/05/23/disturbing-video-shows-machete-wielding-nyc-professor-chase-post-reporter-photographer/\">reported</a> that the journalists immediately left the apartment building, but Rodriguez followed them outside while still carrying the machete. After chasing Miller down the sidewalk, Rodriguez allegedly threatened them again and kicked Fenton in the shin as he tried to get in his vehicle. Miller did not respond to a request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"3lirp\">In a <a href=\"https://hyperallergic.com/824363/artist-shellyne-rodriguez-arrested-in-the-bronx/?utm_campaign=later-linkinbio-hyperallergic&utm_content=later-35399279&utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkin.bio\">statement</a> to the art and culture publication Hyperallergic, Rodriguez said she had received numerous threatening messages and voicemails following the incident with the anti-abortion group.</p><p data-block-key=\"fcjkq\">“All this has taken a toll on my mental health, robbing me of my sense of safety, and creating reasonable fear that they would show up at my home to cause me physical harm, as has happened with so many other women who have similarly had their personal info exposed as a form of politically motivated harassment,” Rodriguez said.</p><p data-block-key=\"16api\">Rodriguez could not be reached for additional comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"94ffe\">Hunter College fired Rodriguez within hours of the incident, <a href=\"https://nypost.com/2023/05/23/nyc-college-professor-shellyne-rodriguez-who-threatened-post-reporter-with-machete-is-fired/\">according to the Post</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"9jglq\">Hyperallergic reported that Rodriguez was charged with menacing and harassment in connection with the attack on Fenton, and turned herself into police custody on May 25. Neither the New York Police Department nor the Bronx District Attorney’s Office responded to emailed requests for additional information.</p></div>",
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"assailant": "private individual",
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
"updates": [
"(2023-10-02 16:37:00+00:00) Woman who chased New York photojournalist ordered into therapy",
"(2024-06-25 00:00:00+00:00) Court issues protective order for New York photojournalist threatened by woman wielding machete"
],
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"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
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"Assault"
],
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"Robert Miller (New York Post)"
],
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},
{
"title": "New York Post reporter threatened, kicked by woman wielding machete",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/new-york-post-reporter-threatened-kicked-by-woman-wielding-machete/",
"first_published_at": "2023-06-01T22:05:24.226428Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-27T20:35:35.292153Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-27T20:35:35.193801Z",
"date": "2023-05-23",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"tnbwx\">Two New York Post journalists were threatened and chased by an adjunct professor at Hunter College when attempting to interview her at her New York City apartment on May 23, 2023.</p><p data-block-key=\"e0edg\">Post reporter Reuven Fenton told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-threatened-chased-by-woman-wielding-machete/\">photojournalist Robert Miller</a> knocked on the door of Shellyne Rodriguez’s Bronx apartment to ask about a viral video of her confronting anti-abortion students at the college earlier in the month.</p><p data-block-key=\"9gags\">“It was a very routine type of assignment,” Fenton said. “I knocked on the door — it was a soft knock, not what they refer to as a police knock — because I really wanted her to talk and I thought she might.”</p><p data-block-key=\"adhtj\">The Post <a href=\"https://nypost.com/2023/05/23/nyc-college-professor-shellyne-rodriguez-holds-machete-to-post-reporters-neck/\">reported</a> that after Fenton identified himself as a Post reporter, Rodriguez shouted, “Get the f–k away from my door, or I’m gonna chop you up with this machete!”</p><p data-block-key=\"850qf\">In footage published by the outlet, Rodriguez then opens the door and holds a machete to Fenton’s neck, yelling at him to get away from her door before going back into the apartment.</p><p data-block-key=\"ffjc8\">The Post <a href=\"https://nypost.com/2023/05/23/disturbing-video-shows-machete-wielding-nyc-professor-chase-post-reporter-photographer/\">reported</a> that the journalists immediately left the apartment building, but Rodriguez followed them outside while still carrying the machete. After chasing Miller down the sidewalk, Rodriguez allegedly threatened them again and kicked Fenton in the shin as he tried to get in his vehicle. Miller did not respond to a request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"b8t9a\">Fenton told the Tracker that he was shocked by the incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"1m9fb\">“You just can’t be doing this stuff, and she doesn’t know me,” Fenton said. “I work for the New York Post, which a lot of people recognize as a sort of conservative publication, but I don’t know if she even fully registered what I said. I could have said I worked for The New York Times and I don’t know if she would have done anything different.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5m9a7\">In a <a href=\"https://hyperallergic.com/824363/artist-shellyne-rodriguez-arrested-in-the-bronx/?utm_campaign=later-linkinbio-hyperallergic&utm_content=later-35399279&utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkin.bio\">statement</a> to the art and culture publication Hyperallergic, Rodriguez said she had received numerous threatening messages and voicemails following the incident with the anti-abortion group.</p><p data-block-key=\"ffubo\">“All this has taken a toll on my mental health, robbing me of my sense of safety, and creating reasonable fear that they would show up at my home to cause me physical harm, as has happened with so many other women who have similarly had their personal info exposed as a form of politically motivated harassment,” Rodriguez said.</p><p data-block-key=\"f6ks7\">Rodriguez could not be reached for additional comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"8cm6c\">Hunter College fired Rodriguez within hours of the incident, <a href=\"https://nypost.com/2023/05/23/nyc-college-professor-shellyne-rodriguez-who-threatened-post-reporter-with-machete-is-fired/\">according to the Post</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"bdhto\">Hyperallergic reported that Rodriguez was charged with menacing and harassment in connection with the attack on Fenton, and turned herself into police custody on May 25. Neither the New York Police Department nor the Bronx District Attorney’s Office responded to emailed requests for additional information.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
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"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
"updates": [
"(2024-06-25 00:00:00+00:00) Court issues protective order for New York reporter threatened by woman wielding machete",
"(2023-10-02 16:35:00+00:00) Woman who kicked New York reporter ordered into therapy"
],
"case_statuses": [],
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"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Reuven Fenton (New York Post)"
],
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},
{
"title": "St. Louis Post-Dispatch barred from publishing mistakenly released report",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/st-louis-post-dispatch-barred-from-publishing-mistakenly-released-report/",
"first_published_at": "2023-06-05T19:02:17.648385Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-05-03T18:04:11.127149Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-05-03T18:04:11.026118Z",
"date": "2023-05-23",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "St. Louis",
"longitude": -90.19789,
"latitude": 38.62727,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"hxdq4\">A Missouri judge on May 23, 2023, barred the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and one of its reporters from publishing details from the mental health evaluation of a man set to stand trial for allegedly killing a police officer in 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"dujho\">Post-Dispatch reporter Katie Kull obtained a copy of a mental health report on the defendant, Thomas J. Kinworthy Jr., when it was filed in St. Louis City Circuit Court on May 18. According to court filings reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, two copies of the report were filed by mistake, with one incorrectly made available to the public.</p><p data-block-key=\"mreb\">Kull contacted the public defender representing Kinworthy for comment on May 22, the Riverfront Times <a href=\"https://www.riverfronttimes.com/news/judge-blocks-post-dispatch-story-about-accused-murderer-40124941\">reported</a>, and the attorney immediately filed a request for a temporary restraining order. The following day, Judge Elizabeth Hogan granted the order, barring Kull, the Post-Dispatch and any of its employees from publishing about the report.</p><p data-block-key=\"1lj9s\">In a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/KatieKull1/status/1661711620219731969\">tweet</a>, Kull wrote, “I tried to write a story but instead I found myself under a court order.”</p><p data-block-key=\"30tlu\">On May 23, the Post-Dispatch filed an initial response to the order, asking that it be dissolved and noting that the Supreme Court has consistently rejected such orders when the documents were legally obtained.</p><p data-block-key=\"a45pp\">“This is true even when statutes prohibit dissemination of such information, as is the case here,” attorneys for the Post-Dispatch wrote. “It is also true when information is inadvertently released that should not have been released, which is the apparent situation here.”</p><p data-block-key=\"emhu2\">Neither Kull nor the Post-Dispatch responded to requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"7cp5d\">Freedom of the Press Foundation, which oversees the operation of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, <a href=\"https://freedom.press/news/judge-ignores-constitution-to-bar-press-from-publishing-public-documents/\">condemned the prior restraint</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"du640\">“On the rare occasion when the government has a legitimate basis to withhold records from the public, the onus is on the government, not the press, to ensure that they’re withheld,” Advocacy Director Seth Stern wrote. “That’s why the Court has held at least four times that once the government releases records to the press, even accidentally, it cannot claw them back or prohibit or punish their publication, regardless of how sensitive the records may be.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4c8g1\">The restraining order will remain in place as the case progresses, according to the Times, and the Post-Dispatch has until June 12 to submit motions in opposition.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Screenshot_2023-06-05_120445.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"4is8w\">A portion of the May 22, 2023, motion for a prior restraint on the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and its reporter Katie Kull. A Missouri judge granted the order, barring the newspaper from publishing details from a mistakenly released mental health report.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"name_of_business": null,
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"status_of_prior_restraint": "dropped",
"mistakenly_released_materials": true,
"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Missouri",
"abbreviation": "MO"
},
"updates": [
"(2023-09-15 14:25:00+00:00) Judge again bars paper from publishing",
"(2024-05-01 00:00:00+00:00) Gag on St. Louis reporter expires, allowing her to publish about mistakenly released report"
],
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"targeted_institutions": [
"St. Louis Post-Dispatch"
],
"tags": [],
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"categories": [
"Prior Restraint"
],
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"Katie Kull (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Ohio reporter’s subpoena for testimony in civil rights case quashed",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/ohio-reporters-subpoena-for-testimony-in-civil-rights-case-quashed/",
"first_published_at": "2025-01-15T22:19:41.498622Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-01-16T18:03:48.557416Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-01-16T18:03:48.432518Z",
"date": "2023-05-22",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Columbus",
"longitude": -82.99879,
"latitude": 39.96118,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"0pgd6\">Jeremy Pelzer, a reporter for Cleveland.com, was subpoenaed on May 22, 2023, to testify in a federal civil rights suit filed by a man incarcerated in Ohio, according to court documents reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"4lt5c\">The subpoena, which called for Pelzer to testify in a telephone deposition, was quashed July 27.</p><p data-block-key=\"47i9v\">In the lawsuit, Lance Pough, imprisoned in 2000, alleged that members of the Ohio Parole Board used his race as a factor in their decision to deny his application for parole, in violation of the equal protection and due process clauses of the 14th Amendment. Pough, who is Black, filed his case in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.</p><p data-block-key=\"2gjn7\">Pough’s complaint cited Pelzer’s <a href=\"https://www.cleveland.com/politics/2019/01/ohio-parole-board-is-secretive-and-frighteningly-unfair-former-member-shirley-smith-says.html\">January 2019 article</a> about alleged unfair practices by the parole board. In the article — which does not mention Pough — former board member Shirley Smith claimed that she had “witnessed strongly biased opinions regarding cases, unprofessional behavior, unethical decisions, and a frighteningly unfair practice of tribal morality.”</p><p data-block-key=\"drm92\">Pough, who was representing himself, sought to depose Pelzer to “verify and authenticate” Smith’s quotes in the article, as well as responses to Smith’s allegations from then-parole board spokesperson JoEllen Smith.</p><p data-block-key=\"8ek1h\">In a July 26 motion to quash the subpoena, Pelzer argued that his testimony was not necessary, and that Pough should instead depose Shirley Smith and JoEllen Smith about their quotes and firsthand knowledge of the parole process.</p><p data-block-key=\"7ukkd\">The reporter also argued that the subpoena imposed an undue burden on his First Amendment rights protecting newsgathering activities from “attempts by civil litigants to turn non-party journalists or newspapers into their private discovery agents.”</p><p data-block-key=\"frpfc\">The following day, U.S. Magistrate Judge Caroline Gentry quashed the subpoena but did not rule on the merits of Pelzer’s argument. Gentry wrote that Pelzer was served only as a result of a clerical error. Pough had filed a motion to strike from the record an amended notice of deposition on June 22, and at that time the subpoena was also “functionally withdrawn by Plaintiff and stricken from the record,” the judge wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"8t979\">Pough filed a <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/subpoena-quashed-for-ohio-reporters-documents-in-civil-rights-case/\">separate subpoena</a> seeking Pelzer’s notes from his interviews with Shirley Smith and JoEllen Smith, which was quashed in February 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"amka\">Pelzer and his attorney, Daniel Kavouras, did not respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Pelzer_subpoena_May_2023.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"nwizp\">A portion of a May 22, 2023, subpoena served to Cleveland.com reporter Jeremy Pelzer, calling for his testimony in a civil rights lawsuit. The subpoena was later quashed.</p>",
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"assailant": null,
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"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
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"legal_order_venue": "Federal",
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Ohio",
"abbreviation": "OH"
},
"updates": [],
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"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
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"Jeremy Pelzer (Cleveland.com)"
],
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"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Photographer details restricted access to senator",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-details-restricted-access-to-senator/",
"first_published_at": "2023-06-13T20:21:01.427679Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-12-20T20:38:25.071024Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-12-20T20:38:24.959893Z",
"date": "2023-05-17",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"xesg8\">Los Angeles Times photographer Kent Nishimura said press access to Sen. Dianne Feinstein at the U.S. Capitol was restricted twice in May 2023.</p><p data-block-key=\"sbvj\">In <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/newsletter/2023-05-24/as-staff-shield-feinstein-from-the-press-a-picture-really-is-worth-a-thousand-words-essential-california\">a May 24 article</a> titled, “As staff shield Feinstein from the press, a picture really is worth a thousand words,” Washington, D.C.-based Nishimura said he was told Feinstein couldn’t be photographed on two consecutive days as she arrived at the Capitol. The 89-year-old Democratic senator from California had been on an extended absence since early March recuperating from illness and hospitalization, and returned to the Senate on May 10.</p><p data-block-key=\"pj0h\">In an <a href=\"https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=0117A30B-C6A2-400E-8B25-06D3D08B00AA\">announcement</a> the day of her return, Feinstein’s office alerted the press that the senator may be using a wheelchair “to travel around the Capitol,” and that she may have a lighter schedule, as per her doctors’ recommendation.</p><p data-block-key=\"akl02\">Nishimura, a staff photographer with the LA Times since 2017, has covered the senior senator for years. He said his article documents an atypical yet alarming denial of access at the nation’s capital.</p><p data-block-key=\"52afn\">“Restricting press access in this manner sets a dangerous precedent for the future — the severe erosion of press freedoms,” Nishimura said in a May 26 email response to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"di3og\">According to Nishimura, he and other members of the press were restricted from accessing the senator on public grounds, effectively limiting the public’s right to information, especially important during a time when the senator’s ability to do her job amid her illness has come into question.</p><p data-block-key=\"5rgt9\">Nishimura wrote that on May 17 and 18, the Senate’s sergeant-at-arms office restricted press access during Feinstein’s arrival, “shutting doors and using the Capitol police to chase journalists out of hallways and public spaces.”</p><p data-block-key=\"c8kc0\">The Office of the Sergeant at Arms did not respond to phone or email requests for comment. The sergeant-at-arms, elected by U.S. senators and serving as chief law enforcement of the Senate, handles security in the Capitol and at all Senate buildings, according to its <a href=\"https://www.senate.gov/reference/office/sergeant_at_arms.htm\">website</a>. The office can also direct the U.S. Capitol Police.</p><p data-block-key=\"7b60o\">Capitol Police Communications Director Tim Barber provided the Tracker with the following statement via email: “The United States Capitol Police works to ensure everyone is able to safely follow the rules of the press galleries.”</p><p data-block-key=\"a97an\">The <a href=\"https://www.radiotv.senate.gov/gallery-members/coverage-rules/\">Radio-TV Correspondents Galleries</a> provide press credentials and guidelines for press access on Capitol Hill, including determining locations where photographers can place their cameras and where reporters can assemble.</p><p data-block-key=\"cblvv\">According to Feinstein spokesman Adam Russell, at no time on these dates was press denied access to the senator by Feinstein’s office. He referred the Tracker to his statement in Nishimura’s article where he was quoted as saying, “Our office has not asked photographers to not take pictures of her in her wheelchair. We did ask, and continue to ask for safety reasons, that photographers and reporters give her space, particularly when entering and exiting her vehicle.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ds7jl\">Nishimura told the Tracker he received no further comment or explanation on press access at the U.S. Capitol.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTSJ37VY.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"vzlwt\">After a prolonged absence, Sen. Dianne Feinstein returned to the U.S. Capitol on May 10, 2023. In the following days, media access to the California senator was twice restricted, wrote a D.C.-based photojournalist.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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{
"title": "Philadelphia news crew shot at with pellets during live broadcast",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/philadelphia-news-crew-shot-at-with-pellets-during-live-broadcast/",
"first_published_at": "2023-05-25T21:00:51.717373Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-05-25T21:02:24.165828Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-05-25T21:02:24.030039Z",
"date": "2023-05-17",
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"city": "Philadelphia",
"longitude": -75.16362,
"latitude": 39.95238,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"w41zy\">A WTXF-TV FOX29 news crew was shot at with a pellet gun from a moving vehicle while reporting outside of City Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on May 17, 2023.</p><p data-block-key=\"dnq3g\"><a href=\"https://www.fox29.com/news/police-investigating-pellet-gun-incident-involving-fox-29-news-crew\">According to FOX29</a>, a news crew was reporting near the intersection of 15th Street and John F. Kennedy Boulevard shortly after 10 p.m. In <a href=\"https://twitter.com/CrossingBroad/status/1659043195450187777\">footage posted to Twitter</a> by an unaffiliated account, reporter Shawnette Wilson can be seen giving a live report when she is suddenly struck in the chest with multiple projectiles.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Fox29 reporter gets shot with a pellet gun during live broadcast 😬<br><br>(via <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MarkFusetti?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@MarkFusetti</a>) <a href=\"https://t.co/wRdFG3ozpL\">pic.twitter.com/wRdFG3ozpL</a></p>— Crossing Broad (@CrossingBroad) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/CrossingBroad/status/1659043195450187777?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 18, 2023</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=\"w41zy\">“OK, so, somebody just hit me with pellets, obviously,” Wilson says in the clip. She told the anchors that she wasn’t injured.</p><p data-block-key=\"bif6t\">Neither Wilson nor FOX29 responded to requests for comment; it was not immediately clear whether the photojournalist with her that night was also struck. In a <a href=\"https://www.fox29.com/news/bicyclists-ride-through-philadelphia-to-raise-awareness-for-biker-safety-on-local-roadways\">version of the report</a> published to FOX29, the section interrupted by the pellet gun assault is re-recorded.</p><p data-block-key=\"220h0\">FOX29 reported that police responded to the scene, and identified the projectiles as gel-like pellets. Police told the news outlet that they have received other reports of individuals being shot with pellets in the area. The Philadelphia Police Department did not respond to a request for additional comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"405a0\">Fellow FOX29 reporter Ellen Kolodziej <a href=\"https://twitter.com/EllenKolo/status/1659208214645452803\">tweeted</a> that the incident was terrifying for both journalists, citing a fatal attack on a <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/spectrum-news-13-reporter-killed-photographer-shot-while-reporting/\">Spectrum News 13 news crew</a> in Florida in February.</p><p data-block-key=\"ats99\">“They had no idea what was flying at them or what could come next…especially after a TV reporter was shot and killed in Florida a few months ago,” Kolodziej wrote. “Nothing to take lightly people.”</p></div>",
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"assailant": "private individual",
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"state": {
"name": "Pennsylvania",
"abbreviation": "PA"
},
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"shot / shot at"
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"categories": [
"Assault"
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"Shawnette Wilson (WTXF-TV)"
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{
"title": "IndyStar reporter subpoenaed, testifies in high-profile abortion case",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/indystar-reporter-subpoenaed-testifies-in-high-profile-abortion-case/",
"first_published_at": "2023-06-22T16:40:06.444265Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-08-08T16:51:50.136873Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-08-08T16:51:49.812677Z",
"date": "2023-05-17",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Indianapolis",
"longitude": -86.15804,
"latitude": 39.76838,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"oid0b\">Indianapolis Star reporter Shari Rudavsky was compelled to testify on May 17, 2023, in connection with an investigation of an Indiana physician who provided a minor with an abortion in the days following the overturning of Roe v. Wade.</p><p data-block-key=\"f4gu1\">Rudavsky was reporting on a 2022 reproductive rights protest when she <a href=\"https://indianacitizen.org/sanction-imposed-attorney-general-convinces-licensing-board-bernard-violated-patient-privacy-laws/\">reportedly</a> overheard OB-GYN Caitlin Bernard telling the story of a 10-year-old, pregnant sexual assault survivor who was seeking an abortion in Indiana days after Ohio implemented a six-week abortion ban. Bernard confirmed the story to Rudavsky, whose <a href=\"https://www.indystar.com/story/news/health/2022/07/01/indiana-abortion-law-roe-v-wade-overturned-travel/7779936001/\">subsequent article</a> drew national attention to the case.</p><p data-block-key=\"3occa\">Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita subsequently launched an investigation into allegations that Bernard had violated patient privacy laws and had failed to immediately alert authorities that the child had been raped. The Department of Health <a href=\"https://www.indystar.com/story/news/politics/2022/11/18/indiana-ag-todd-rokitas-office-dr-bernards-attorneys-spar-in-court/69657349007/\">confirmed to the IndyStar</a> that Bernard had reported the abuse to the state, and her employer, Indiana University Health, <a href=\"https://www.indystar.com/story/news/health/2022/07/15/iu-health-says-indiana-doctor-did-not-violate-hipaa-laws-in-10-year-old-abortion-case/65374295007/\">said in a statement</a> that she had not violated patient privacy.</p><p data-block-key=\"d93ii\">Rokita subpoenaed Rudavsky in early 2023, initially ordering her to appear for a deposition before the Indiana Medical Licensing Board on April 20, <a href=\"/documents/13/2022-MLB-0024_-_AG_MOTION_to_continue_hearing.pdf\">according to court filings</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"7eumf\">Rudavsky confirmed that she was ultimately deposed on May 17, but she declined to comment further, directing inquiries to an attorney representing the newspaper.</p><p data-block-key=\"6j2uk\">In <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evSy1YZxyfg\">her deposition</a>, Rudavsky was not only asked about her communications with Bernard but also about when she became interested in journalism, her work for a student newspaper and her role as a health and medicine reporter for the Star.</p><p data-block-key=\"7jf4r\">Gannett attorney Tom Curley also declined to comment when reached by email.</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"on3n8\">Protesters demonstrate at the Indiana Statehouse following the overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022. IndyStar reporter Shari Rudavsky was compelled to testify in May 2023 after reporting on a 10-year-old who received an abortion in the state.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "Indiana",
"abbreviation": "IN"
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"tags": [
"reproductive rights"
],
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"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
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"Shari Rudavsky (The Indianapolis Star)"
],
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}
]
