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{
"title": "Former Fox News producer subpoenaed in defamation suit against Fox",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/former-fox-news-producer-subpoenaed-in-defamation-suit-against-fox/",
"first_published_at": "2023-04-19T13:55:41.507517Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-04-19T16:02:06.766241Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-04-19T16:02:06.543387Z",
"date": "2023-04-03",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"jmc0w\">Former Fox News producer Abby Grossberg was subpoenaed as part of a defamation lawsuit against the broadcast company on April 3, 2023.</p><p data-block-key=\"fjmjh\">Smartmatic, which builds and implements electronic voting systems, is pursuing a $2.7 billion lawsuit against Fox News for broadcasting allegations that the company was involved in potential election fraud during the 2020 presidential election.</p><p data-block-key=\"88l7b\">The <a href=\"https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/fbem/DocumentDisplayServlet?documentId=syz0LBFZQfSu6vucyjIprg==&system=prod\">subpoena</a>, which was reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, directs Grossberg to produce extensive documents and communications dating from Jan. 1, 2020 to the present concerning the claims of election interference broadcast by Fox News. The requested files include all correspondence with former President Donald Trump’s attorneys Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, as well as all communications with Fox News or its parent company, Fox Corp, concerning the 2020 election and the network’s coverage of it.</p><p data-block-key=\"dsfee\">Grossberg’s attorney Parisis Filippatos <a href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna78357\">told NBC News</a> that the former producer intends to fully comply with the subpoena, which instructs her to produce the documents within 20 days. Filippatos did not respond to an email requesting further comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"3h7g\">According to NBC, Grossberg worked at Fox from 2019 to March 24, 2023, and was fired after filing a lawsuit against the network alleging that she was coerced into giving misleading deposition testimony in a separate libel lawsuit against the broadcast company, which was <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/04/18/business/fox-news-dominion-trial-settlement\">settled on April 18</a>. Fox told NBC that she was fired after divulging privileged information.</p><p data-block-key=\"adabl\">Fox News did not respond to an email requesting additional comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Grossberg.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"7uif0\">A portion of a subpoena issued to former Fox News producer Abby Grossberg on April 3, 2023, seeking documents and communications concerning the network’s coverage of the 2020 presidential election.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"status_of_charges": null,
"release_date": null,
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"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
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"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": "journalist communications or work product",
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_type": null,
"legal_order_venue": "State",
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"election",
"Election 2020"
],
"current_charges": [],
"dropped_charges": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Abby Grossberg (Fox News)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [
"carried out"
],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Anchorage photojournalist attacked while covering campaign sign vandalism",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/anchorage-photojournalist-attacked-while-covering-campaign-sign-vandalism/",
"first_published_at": "2023-04-06T22:42:57.990340Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-04-06T22:42:57.990340Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-04-06T22:42:57.902181Z",
"date": "2023-03-31",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Anchorage",
"longitude": -149.90028,
"latitude": 61.21806,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"8uiqj\">Anchorage Daily News photojournalist Loren Holmes was assaulted while reporting a story about political sign vandalism in Anchorage, Alaska, on March 31, 2023.</p><p data-block-key=\"2lhdc\">In an account of the assault on its journalist, <a href=\"https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/anchorage/2023/04/01/an-anchorage-daily-news-journalist-was-assaulted-while-doing-his-job-heres-what-happened/\">the Daily News</a> wrote that the newspaper was covering vandalized or stolen campaign signs ahead of an April 4 municipal election.</p><p data-block-key=\"2lilq\">Holmes, who did not respond to requests for comment, had made arrangements to meet with someone from Ship Creek Group, a consulting firm working with several candidates, at the site of multiple incidents of vandalism in South Anchorage. When he arrived on March 31, Holmes saw a man who appeared to be tending to the campaign signs and approached him. Holmes said he introduced himself as a Daily News journalist and asked if the man was from Ship Creek Group, to which the man replied yes.</p><p data-block-key=\"4k1se\">The man then told Holmes that he was in the process of replacing the signs, but said that he didn’t want his picture taken and refused to tell Holmes his name. After Holmes pointed out that they were in a public place, the man responded that if Holmes took his picture he’d take the camera.</p><p data-block-key=\"4npbb\">When the man then approached Holmes, the photojournalist took out his phone to document the interaction but tripped and fell backward. The man then jumped on top of Holmes, pinned him to the ground and wrestled the phone from his hands.</p><p data-block-key=\"dnh7i\">Holmes told the Daily News he called 911 on his smartwatch and said that he had been the victim of an assault and theft. The man, hearing the call, threw Holmes’ phone and ran. Holmes said he was able to locate his phone in the snow; it was not immediately clear whether it had been damaged.</p><p data-block-key=\"4335q\">The Daily News reported that Holmes has an abrasion on his hand most likely from the fall, but that he was otherwise unharmed.</p><p data-block-key=\"9ieaj\">In a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/lorenholmes/status/1642387234522542081\">tweet</a> following the incident, Holmes wrote, “While the attack felt personal in the moment, sadly it is becoming part of a pattern nationally and globally.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I was attacked yesterday in Anchorage while reporting a story about political sign vandalism. While the attack felt personal in the moment, sadly it is becoming part of a pattern nationally and globally. <a href=\"https://t.co/Zi4g2wQQt2\">https://t.co/Zi4g2wQQt2</a></p>— Loren Holmes (@lorenholmes) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/lorenholmes/status/1642387234522542081?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 2, 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=\"8uiqj\">Shortly after police arrived at the scene, so did the representative from Ship Creek Group, who confirmed that the man who had attacked Holmes was not connected with the group.</p><p data-block-key=\"9q4h3\">The Anchorage Police Department told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that no charges have been filed in connection with the incident.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"case_number": null,
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"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
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"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_type": null,
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"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Alaska",
"abbreviation": "AK"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"election"
],
"current_charges": [],
"dropped_charges": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Loren Holmes (Anchorage Daily News)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Louisiana photojournalist attacked, his camera thrown",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/louisiana-photojournalist-attacked-his-camera-thrown/",
"first_published_at": "2023-04-17T18:11:58.269847Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-11-01T14:08:35.874058Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-11-01T14:08:35.780328Z",
"date": "2023-03-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Slidell",
"longitude": -89.78117,
"latitude": 30.27519,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"cwzad\">WVUE Fox8 News photojournalist Steven A. Wolfram told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was repeatedly attacked by a man while reporting on shooting deaths in Slidell, Louisiana, on March 29, 2023.</p><p data-block-key=\"2lgv\">Wolfram said he and WVUE reporter Olivia Vidal were filming outside a home where police had discovered what <a href=\"https://www.fox8live.com/2023/03/29/swat-standoff-ends-with-suspected-murder-suicide-slidell/\">appeared to be a murder-suicide</a> following a standoff with SWAT officers. Vidal told the Tracker two other news crews were at the scene, and that family members had made it clear they did not want to speak to the press and didn’t want anyone approaching the house. By approximately 8 a.m. the other news crews had left the scene.</p><p data-block-key=\"cqak7\">Vidal told the Tracker that when preparing for the 9 a.m. live broadcast, she asked Wolfram to keep an eye out, as something felt off. When they completed the report, Wolfram left the station’s camera and live unit set up on a tripod and he and Vidal returned to their vehicle.</p><p data-block-key=\"2s524\">“This young man starts marching toward the camera,” Wolfram said. “I’ve been doing this for 25 years and I’ve been doing it in some of the toughest neighborhoods in New Orleans. I wasn’t expecting it, and I think that was my first mistake.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3allf\">Wolfram said he got out of the car and tried to deescalate the situation and explain why they were there, but the man grabbed the tripod, camera and live unit and threw it on the ground. Though Wolfram was able to soften the blow, a piece of the wireless microphone broke.</p><p data-block-key=\"e6th6\">While he was turned away, the man struck Wolfram in the side of the head.</p><p data-block-key=\"ej6d2\">“My first thought was, ‘I can’t believe that didn’t knock me out,’” Wolfram said. “I was stunned but was able to retreat back to the car. He starts banging on the window. We told him, ‘We’re calling the cops! We’re calling the cops!’”</p><p data-block-key=\"825mp\">Vidal said the man came around to the passenger side where she was sitting, attempted to open the door and continued pounding on the glass.</p><p data-block-key=\"4o178\">Three individuals pulled the attacker away, providing an opportunity for Wolfram to retrieve the equipment and load it into the vehicle. When Wolfram attempted to photograph the man to show police, the man once again charged the photojournalist.</p><p data-block-key=\"9bs5i\">Wolfram said the man missed making contact and fell, then got up to charge him again. That’s when he grabbed the man by the collar and tried to restrain him on the ground. The other individuals intervened again and separated the man from the photojournalist.</p><p data-block-key=\"20a8k\">Wolfram said he drove the vehicle around the corner to distance the pair of journalists from the situation while waiting for the police. The man broke away from the group restraining him and ran to a nearby car, Wolfram said, where he reached into the glove box.</p><p data-block-key=\"agohs\">“At that point we got the hell out of there,” Wolfram said. “This guy wanted to hurt me if not kill me, and I saw him go run for a weapon.”</p><p data-block-key=\"7dubk\">Vidal told the Tracker three officers and an ambulance met the journalists in the parking lot of a nearby restaurant. Wolfram sought medical care after speaking with sheriff’s deputies about the incident, and reported minor injuries.</p><p data-block-key=\"bc4ga\">The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office confirmed that a summons was issued in connection with the incident for simple assault and criminal damage.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"actor": "private individual",
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"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
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"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
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{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "recording equipment"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "Louisiana",
"abbreviation": "LA"
},
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"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Steven A. Wolfram (WVUE-DT)"
],
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{
"title": "Photojournalist assaulted in Alabama courthouse",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-assaulted-in-alabama-courthouse/",
"first_published_at": "2023-03-31T16:54:51.445402Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-03-31T16:54:51.445402Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-03-31T16:54:51.351428Z",
"date": "2023-03-28",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Huntsville",
"longitude": -86.58594,
"latitude": 34.7304,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"6gxws\">A WAFF 48 News photographer was assaulted while covering a court case in Huntsville, Alabama, on March 28, 2023.</p><p data-block-key=\"4gdaj\">When reached for comment, WAFF 48 News Director Julie Szulczewski asked that the photographer only be identified by his first name, Erik.</p><p data-block-key=\"17tus\">The station <a href=\"https://www.waff.com/2023/03/28/waff-photographer-assaulted-by-woman-inside-madison-co-courthouse/\">reported</a> that Erik was reporting on a sentencing hearing for Travion Evans, who was charged with murder for the 2018 shooting of two people and killing of one.</p><p data-block-key=\"71pdg\">As Erik filmed Evans being led out of a courtroom in the Madison County Courthouse, a woman whom WAFF identified as a relative of Evans’ ran toward Erik, grabbing his arm and attempting to cover the camera.</p><p data-block-key=\"1ssvs\">In footage published by WAFF, the woman can be heard saying, “Move away from my child!” before covering the camera. Erik is heard responding, “Ma’am, do not touch me.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">WAFF photographer assaulted by a woman inside Madison Co. courthouse. <a href=\"https://t.co/Jd9JfHNfRt\">https://t.co/Jd9JfHNfRt</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/R4VaVMLwfZ\">pic.twitter.com/R4VaVMLwfZ</a></p>— WAFF 48 (@waff48) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/waff48/status/1640762169175285761?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 28, 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=\"6gxws\">Szulczewski told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that bailiffs immediately intervened. Erik called the station to let them know that he had been assaulted but that he was not injured.</p><p data-block-key=\"7hfi2\">After reviewing the footage, Szulczewski said they decided to press charges against the woman.</p><p data-block-key=\"d34h6\">“We just can’t let our crews be attacked in the field and not have consequences for the people that do that,” Szulczewski said.</p><p data-block-key=\"703j5\">The Huntsville Police Department did not respond to requests for additional information.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Screenshot_824.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"9344x\">Aabama news station WAFF 48 in Huntsville has pressed charges against a woman, left, who attempted to stop its photojournalist from filming in the courthouse on March 28, 2023 by grabbing his arm and camera.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_type": null,
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"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Alabama",
"abbreviation": "AL"
},
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"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"current_charges": [],
"dropped_charges": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Erik (WAFF)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Indian journalist harassed, struck in head while documenting DC protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/indian-journalist-harassed-struck-in-head-while-documenting-dc-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2023-04-17T18:56:47.095550Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-03-10T23:05:42.898561Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-03-10T23:05:42.684238Z",
"date": "2023-03-25",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"3z45c\">Lalit K. Jha, the chief U.S. correspondent for the Press Trust of India, was harassed and struck in the head with a set of wooden boards while reporting on a protest outside the Indian Embassy in Washington, D.C., on March 25, 2023.</p><p data-block-key=\"26suj\">Jha told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he learned that supporters of the Khalistan movement were organizing a demonstration, calling for the creation of a Sikh homeland by establishing a sovereign state in India’s Punjab region. <a href=\"https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/uk/pro-khalistan-protesters-barricaded-off-outside-india-house-in-london/articleshow/98923726.cms?from=mdr\">Similar</a> <a href=\"https://www.deccanherald.com/international/world-news-politics/pro-khalistani-protesters-attack-indian-consulate-in-san-francisco-1201957.html\">protests</a> in the days prior had resulted in property damage to Indian consulates and diplomatic missions.</p><p data-block-key=\"2ajbu\">Jha said that he arrived at around noon and began documenting the protest and taking notes from across the street. After a few minutes, a man approached him and began demanding that he identify himself. Jha said he was a reporter for PTI and explained that he was there to report on the demonstration.</p><p data-block-key=\"bjsva\">The man then repeatedly asked what he was going to write, eventually attempting to block his cellphone with his hand and the flags he was carrying.</p><p data-block-key=\"mm7r\">“At one point, I saw that he was putting his elbow in front of me, just in front of my nose, and I sensed that there’s going to be some kind of physical violence from him,” Jha said. “So I told him, ‘Look, I feel I’m being obstructed from doing my work. I feel like I’ll be physically assaulted, so I’m going to call 911.’”</p><p data-block-key=\"eo9ba\">After calling the police, Jha approached a van of Secret Service officers parked near the embassy. He told them that he was concerned about escalating aggression toward him, and they responded that they would ensure he was able to safely do his job.</p><p data-block-key=\"a4bv2\">Jha told the Tracker he resumed documenting while standing near the Secret Service officers, but was again approached by multiple individuals, some of whom filmed him while demanding that he explain why he was there. One individual told a nearby Secret Service officer that Jha needed to “leave my land” and that if Jha were to be assaulted, not to blame the demonstrators.</p><p data-block-key=\"acfe7\">In footage Jha captured in the moments that followed, another man approached the journalist and began insulting him. As the man turned away, the two large wooden flag staffs he was carrying smacked Jha in the side of the head.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Thank you <a href=\"https://twitter.com/SecretService?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@SecretService</a> 4 my protection 2day 4 helping do my job, otherwise I would have been writing this from hospital. The gentleman below hit my left ear with these 2 sticks & earlier I had to call 9/11 & rushed 2 police van 4 safety fearing physical assault👇. <a href=\"https://t.co/IVcCeP5BPG\">pic.twitter.com/IVcCeP5BPG</a></p>— Lalit K Jha ललित के झा (@lalitkjha) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/lalitkjha/status/1639754129709957122?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 25, 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=\"3z45c\">In the footage, the man is heard saying, “Ope, I’m sorry,” immediately after striking Jha.</p><p data-block-key=\"7f72p\">Jha told the Tracker it was not a mistake and he was stunned following the hit. “I was standing there, and he did it purposefully. He swung the rod with the flag in such a way that it hit my ear.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dhscm\">Jha said the Secret Service officer approached him after he had recovered and asked if he wanted to file a complaint. He said no, that he was fine, and continued to cover the protest for about an hour.</p><p data-block-key=\"487bh\">After three days of persistent headaches and tears streaming from his left eye, Jha said he sought medical attention. Doctors told him there was no permanent damage.</p><p data-block-key=\"5pqdk\">Jha also said that because he has been covering the Khalistan movement, Sikhs for Justice, for 15 years and is known by the leaders, some of them called him to apologize for the incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"7svei\">Jha said he was thankful to a lot of people, particularly the Secret Service. “They made sure that I, as a journalist, was able to do my job,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"b40u3\">The National Press Club condemned the attack in a <a href=\"https://www.press.org/newsroom/national-press-club-statement-attacks-against-indian-journalist-washington\">press release</a> on March 27, noting that bundles of sticks had also been brought to similar protests in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York in order to threaten and intimidate journalists and others.</p><p data-block-key=\"dk50p\">“Journalism is a dangerous business and without some quick work by the Secret Service, Lalit might have been more seriously injured,” the statement said.</p><p data-block-key=\"2raf4\">When asked about the incident during a <a href=\"https://www.state.gov/briefings/department-press-briefing-march-28-2023/\">press briefing</a> on March 28, a U.S. State Department spokesperson said attacks against journalists are never acceptable.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/jha3.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"q3vn3\">Lalit K. Jha, the chief U.S. correspondent for the Press Trust of India, captured footage of a man striking him with wooden boards at a demonstration in front of the Indian Embassy in Washington, D.C., on March 25, 2023.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"categories": [
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{
"title": "Documentarian returning from film festival questioned for second time",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/documentarian-returning-from-film-festival-questioned-for-second-time/",
"first_published_at": "2023-11-09T18:38:48.552919Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-11-09T18:45:17.705788Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-11-09T18:45:17.590459Z",
"date": "2023-03-24",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"xqrgk\">Independent filmmaker Michael Rowley was flagged for additional security screening and questioned about his documentary work for the second time, on this occasion upon arriving at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York on March 24, 2023.</p><p data-block-key=\"astpg\">Rowley was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/filmmaker-questioned-about-documentary-when-returning-from-west-bank/\">first stopped in October 2019</a> when returning from his film screening in the West Bank city of Ramallah, via Tel Aviv, Israel. At that time, a plainclothes officer questioned him about the content of his first documentary, which focuses on the lives of young Palestinian men, as well as about the characters in the film and his methods of making it.</p><p data-block-key=\"f0sfn\">Rowley told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in November 2023 that he had traveled to Copenhagen, Denmark, for the world premiere of his latest film, “Praying for Armageddon,” from March 17 to 24. When passing through passport control at JFK Airport, Rowley was again flagged for secondary screening and directed to an interview room for questioning.</p><p data-block-key=\"6a4pu\">The officer who questioned him indicated that the filmmaker had been added to a watchlist of some kind, and that she had reviewed the notes from the questioning on his previous trip.</p><p data-block-key=\"4icce\">“She said, ‘So you’re in our system because of someone that you filmed with,’” Rowley added. He told the Tracker that he believes she was alluding to the man he had been asked to identify when questioned in 2019. She also asked about whether he had traveled to any “places of interest” while he was abroad. When asked to elaborate she specifically named Iran.</p><p data-block-key=\"4k6ps\">He said he was released after about 30 minutes, but that when he obtained the boarding pass for the next leg of his travels it was marked with “SSSS” — secondary security screening selection. Rowley said he was then subjected to a full-body pat-down, an extensive search of his belongings and was asked to demonstrate that his laptop and cellphone functioned, which delayed him an additional hour.</p><p data-block-key=\"616mi\">In April, Rowley said he filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Traveler Redress Inquiry Program in an effort to prevent further security screenings.</p><p data-block-key=\"2t8ec\">“It is clear from the questions that [Customs and Border Protection] officials have asked me that I am being singled out for questioning and additional security screening due to my First Amendment-protected journalistic and filmmaking activities,” Rowley wrote in his complaint, which asks that he be removed from any watchlist that he may have been added to.</p><p data-block-key=\"38jd9\">Rowley told the Tracker that during the two trips that he has taken since, he has not been stopped for additional security or questioning, but that his experiences had affected his reporting.</p><p data-block-key=\"a9ll7\">“I was in the early stages of working on a new documentary here in Dallas, which I decided to put on hiatus indefinitely because of the realization of being on a watchlist and for fear of bringing government attention to the characters in the film,” Rowley said. “It certainly had a chilling effect on me and my work.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"668hf\">Documentarian Michael Rowley was questioned for the second time by U.S. border authorities when flying into New York, New York, on March 24, 2023. A plainclothes officer said he was “in [their] system” because of someone he filmed with in the West Bank.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"name": "New York",
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{
"title": "At least 10 journalists tracked in government migrant caravan database",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/at-least-10-journalists-tracked-in-government-migrant-caravan-database/",
"first_published_at": "2023-07-27T20:40:38.576966Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-07-27T20:40:38.576966Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-07-27T20:40:38.456976Z",
"date": "2023-03-24",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "San Diego",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"kt8ip\">At least 10 journalists were tracked in a database authorized by the U.S. government as part of its surveillance around the migrant caravan in 2019, according to documents <a href=\"https://www.rcfp.org/nbc7-operation-secure-line-secrets/\">released</a> in March 2023 in compliance with FOIA requests from San Diego TV station KNSD.</p><p data-block-key=\"4de1d\">The NBC station <a href=\"https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/source-leaked-documents-show-the-us-government-tracking-journalists-and-advocates-through-a-secret-database/3438/\">first broke the story</a> in March 2019 that Department of Homeland Security officials in San Diego had created the database as part of “Operation Secure Line” — the government’s code name for its response to the caravan. Agents compiled dossiers on at least 65 journalists, attorneys and humanitarian aid workers, and flagged them for additional questioning, searches and occasionally denials of entry at the border.</p><p data-block-key=\"2blcv\">A Homeland Security Investigations agent, who <a href=\"https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/government-secrets-why-and-how-a-special-agent-turned-whistleblower-uncovered-controversial-border-surveillance-tactics/2176213/\">later identified himself</a> as Wesley Petonak, told KNSD he was alarmed when he came across a PowerPoint containing details from the database and so leaked screenshots.</p><p data-block-key=\"a9iq5\">“It seemed these people's rights were being infringed on,” Petonak said.</p><p data-block-key=\"1664d\">The TV station, together with the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, or RCFP, filed FOIA requests seeking documents from Operation Secure Line, then <a href=\"https://www.rcfp.org/reporters-committee-nbc-7-san-diego-sue-u-s-immigration-agencies-for-violating-foia/\">sued</a> in April 2019 when the government refused to produce the documents. In March 2023, the government began releasing the files. More than 4,800 pages have been released as of July 2023, according to reporter Tom Jones, who has led the reporting on Operation Secure Line, first at KNSD and now at WMAQ-TV in Chicago.</p><p data-block-key=\"bdahs\">According to the <a href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/projects/border-surveillance-lawsuit-release_nbc-7-san-diego-and-reporters-committee-for-freedom-of-the-press-212294/\">documents</a>, officers surveilled journalists, social media influencers, attorneys, aid workers and immigration advocates whom officials suspected were connected to a caravan of more than 9,000 Central American migrants seeking asylum in late 2018 and early 2019. The title of the <a href=\"https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/photos-leaked-documents-to-nbc-7-investigates-11-3/126760/\">PowerPoint leaked to the station</a> identified those included as “Suspected Organizers, Coordinators, Instigators, and Media.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8huf\">Five of the 10 journalists indicated in the documents released so far were named — photojournalists Kitra Cahana, Ariana Drehsler, Bing Guan, Go Nakamura and Robert Wilson. Five remain unnamed, as the TV station censored the names and images of any individuals who did not provide permission to publish their information.</p><p data-block-key=\"60hu8\"><a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?targeted_journalists=Kitra%20Cahana\">Cahana</a>, <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?targeted_journalists=Ariana%20Drehsler\">Drehsler</a>, <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/two-photography-students-stopped-us-mexico-border-secondary-screening/\">Guan</a> and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-stopped-at-us-mexico-border-for-secondary-screening/\">Nakamura</a> were each stopped at least once for additional questioning when crossing the border and asked about their work covering the Central American migrant caravan’s arrival in Mexico. Several had their equipment searched.</p><p data-block-key=\"2guh5\">All four photojournalists, along with photographer <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-pulled-secondary-screening-border/\">Mark Abramson</a>, <a href=\"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/16493820/guan-v-mayorkas/\">filed a federal civil rights lawsuit</a> in November 2019 against the heads of the Department of Homeland Security, or DHS, and its agencies U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The suit is ongoing as of July 2023, with discovery underway.</p><p data-block-key=\"f60i7\">Wilson confirmed to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in July 2023 that he, on the other hand, had not been stopped for secondary screening while covering the migrant caravan. He said it may be in part because he was extremely cautious.</p><p data-block-key=\"fesma\">“The whole time I was [in Mexico] I kind of assumed I was going to be on a list, so I tried to really minimize my crossings,” Wilson said. “I only went across the border twice, and I waited for the heaviest traffic times and went across on foot.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1pvlr\">Following the initial revelations about the operation, DHS agreed to conduct an internal investigation, <a href=\"https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Department-of-Homeland-Security-Launches-Investigation-Into-Secret-Database-at-the-Border-528235731.html\">according to the station</a>. The Office of the Inspector General for DHS announced it would conduct its own independent investigation.</p><p data-block-key=\"2n9rv\">While the OIG conceded in its <a href=\"https://www.oig.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/assets/2021-09/OIG-21-62-Sep21.pdf\">final report</a> that some of the “lookouts” placed on U.S. journalists, attorneys and others did not fully comply with U.S. Customs and Border Protection policy, it held that agents had legitimate reasons for flagging the individuals.</p><p data-block-key=\"anhld\">“Although we determined CBP’s lookouts on a number of journalists present at an illegal border crossing were unnecessary, we found no evidence that CBP placed these lookouts to harass the journalists,” the report said.</p><p data-block-key=\"37s3m\">RCFP attorney Katie Townsend <a href=\"https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/investigations/secure-line-secrets-documents-released-behind-border-surveillance-of-journalists-attorneys-and-humanitarian-aid-workers/3194760/\">told KNSD</a> she believes there is still more to learn about the surveillance effort.</p><p data-block-key=\"523f1\">“While the release of these records is a victory for transparency, the litigation is ongoing, and we anticipate that additional information will come to light,” Townsend said. RCFP is a member of the Tracker advisory board.</p><p data-block-key=\"27gfa\">Jones told the Tracker that as far as he knows, and based on the OIG investigation, this was the only active surveillance effort that included journalists, attorneys and other American citizens.</p><p data-block-key=\"3cojh\">“But the only reason we know about this surveillance effort is because records were leaked to us,” Jones said. “If it wasn’t for that leak, we would have never discovered this, so who’s to say there aren’t more efforts or lists like this out there?”</p><p data-block-key=\"cnj89\">Operation Secure Line is not the only instance of CBP monitoring journalists: In 2021, reporters revealed that a secretive CBP division, known as the Counter Network Division, had been <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/as-many-as-20-journalists-investigated-by-secretive-cbp-division/\">investigating as many as 20 journalists</a> beginning in 2017.</p><p data-block-key=\"6dd3n\">According to a <a href=\"https://www.yahoo.com/news/operation-whistle-pig-inside-the-secret-cbp-unit-with-no-rules-that-investigates-americans-100000147.html\">report by Yahoo News</a>, CBP agents would run information and photos from passport applications through multiple government databases.</p><p data-block-key=\"42iha\">Also, in 2020, DHS<a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/dhs-compiles-intelligence-reports-two-journalists-covering-black-lives-matter-protests/\"> compiled intelligence reports</a> about the reporting and tweets of two journalists covering protests in Portland, Oregon, according to a Washington Post<a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/dhs-compiled-intelligence-reports-on-journalists-who-published-leaked-documents/2020/07/30/5be5ec9e-d25b-11ea-9038-af089b63ac21_story.html#click=https://t.co/UEJyzCoJS7\"> article</a>. After the reports were made public, then-Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf ordered the office to cease all collection of information on journalists and announced an investigation into the reports.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ekydt\">A heavily redacted page confirms that journalists were among those surveilled as part of a government program. The pages were released to an NBC TV station in San Diego and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
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"targeted_institutions": [
"Media"
],
"tags": [
"migrant caravan"
],
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"categories": [
"Chilling Statement"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Ariana Drehsler (Freelance)",
"Bing Guan (Independent)",
"Go Nakamura (Freelance)",
"Kitra Cahana (Freelance)",
"Robert Wilson (Freelance)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Reporter subpoenaed in Staten Island assault case",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-subpoenaed-in-staten-island-assault-case/",
"first_published_at": "2023-06-27T13:27:42.917874Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-04-09T18:23:13.665541Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-04-09T18:23:13.542123Z",
"date": "2023-03-24",
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"city": "New York",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"su3do\">Reporter Maura Grunlund of the Staten Island Advance newspaper was subpoenaed on March 24, 2023, to testify on conversations with the victim of an assault. By the time the criminal trial ended on April 4, the subpoena had been quashed.</p><p data-block-key=\"ei99b\">Grunlund <a href=\"https://www.silive.com/news/g66l-2019/01/103ece02a48416/he-beat-me-senselessly-home-health-aide-recounts-attack-on-way-to-prayer-meeting.html\">reported</a> on a January 2019 attack on Beatrice Kaliku, a resident of New York City borough Staten Island. Police later <a href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/beating-staten-island-woman-arrested/\">arrested</a> Linden Beaton for the attack.</p><p data-block-key=\"70ckg\">Beaton’s attorney subpoenaed Grunlund to testify about statements Kaliku had made about the height of her attacker, attempting to show inconsistencies with Kaliku’s later claims.</p><p data-block-key=\"cofui\">According to <a href=\"https://drive.google.com/file/d/1S-oG3Mn1SpsgWyYnlqRQlmCgOfGAxkiS/view?usp=drive_link\">an undated excerpt of the hearing transcript</a> made available by the Media Law Resource Center, Grunlund’s attorney, Thomas Sullivan of Ballard Spahr, moved to quash the subpoena.</p><p data-block-key=\"9phjm\">Sullivan argued that the subpoena was not properly served, but also that Grunlund was protected from having to testify under both <a href=\"https://law.justia.com/codes/new-york/2013/cvr/article-7/79-h\">New York’s reporter shield law</a> and <a href=\"https://law.justia.com/constitution/new-york/article-i/section-8/\">Article 1, Section 8, of the state constitution</a>, a qualified privilege that protects disclosure of information gleaned from newsgathering.</p><p data-block-key=\"87d2h\">“If every time a newspaper reporter wrote about a criminal case they were called into court to testify,” Sullivan said, “it would be a strong disincentive for the press to do that reporting.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5s7qi\">The judge agreed, ruling to quash the subpoena. Neither Grunlund nor Sullivan responded to requests for comment regarding the subpoena.</p><p data-block-key=\"2bqdh\">Beaton, who had been convicted in 2022 for the kidnapping, rape and murder of another woman a few days after Kaliku’s attack, was ultimately <a href=\"https://www.silive.com/crime-safety/2023/04/already-serving-150-years-for-murder-of-staten-island-grandma-hes-convicted-in-attack-on-2nd-woman.html\">found guilty</a> of assaulting Kaliku and <a href=\"https://www.silive.com/crime-safety/2023/04/judge-adds-38-years-to-staten-island-mans-150-year-murder-sentence-for-attack-on-different-woman.html\">was sentenced</a> on April 25.</p></div>",
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
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"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
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"Maura Grunlund (Staten Island Advance)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Media outlets sue Denver Public Schools for records from closed meeting",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/media-outlets-sue-denver-public-schools-for-records-from-closed-meeting/",
"first_published_at": "2023-05-23T17:05:42.778926Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-02-13T18:49:56.303006Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-02-13T18:49:56.210654Z",
"date": "2023-03-23",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Denver",
"longitude": -104.9847,
"latitude": 39.73915,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"emey6\">Seven news outlets in Denver, Colorado, have taken the city’s public school district to court after the Board of Education held a closed-door session on March 23, 2023.</p><p data-block-key=\"1p1ge\">The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press <a href=\"https://www.rcfp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/2023-04-28-The-Denver-Post-v.-Wheeler-Application-for-access-to-recording-and-meeting-minutes.pdf\">filed the lawsuit</a> on April 28 on behalf of seven local news outlets: Chalkbeat Colorado, Colorado Newsline, Colorado Politics, The Denver Gazette, The Denver Post, KDVR-TV and KUSA-TV.</p><p data-block-key=\"7q1g1\">According to the suit, the Denver Public Schools Board held a closed, five-hour session on March 23 to discuss security policies following a shooting of two administrators at East High School the day before. Following the meeting, board members unanimously voted to redeploy armed officers in every district high school for the remainder of the year, going against the district’s written policy.</p><p data-block-key=\"6bqh9\">“No public discussion, whatsoever, preceded the Board’s historic about-face concerning its policy of preventing armed ‘School Resource Officers’ inside the District’s high schools. None,” the lawsuit said. “It is clear and irrefutable that the Board had already decided, behind closed doors, to adopt the position or resolution in the Memorandum that they then unanimously voted to approve in public without discussion — a mere ‘rubber stamping’ of their earlier decision.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6nup4\">Between March 23 and 30, each of the media outlets party to the lawsuit filed requests under Colorado’s Open Records Act and Open Meetings Law seeking the meeting’s minutes and the recording of the session. Each of the requests was denied on the basis that the records are not subject to the open government laws.</p><p data-block-key=\"fc8ea\">The lawsuit requests that the court direct the school district to release the recording from the meeting in its entirety, or — if sections are exempt from disclosure — that those sections be redacted and the remainder released.</p><p data-block-key=\"2p0gp\">A hearing on the case is scheduled for June 1.</p></div>",
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"case_number": "2023CV031265",
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"state": {
"name": "Colorado",
"abbreviation": "CO"
},
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"(2023-07-23 14:08:00+00:00) News outlets win release of school board meeting recording"
],
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"dismissed"
],
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"targeted_institutions": [
"Chalkbeat Colorado",
"Colorado Newsline",
"Colorado Politics",
"KDVR",
"KUSA",
"The Denver Gazette",
"The Denver Post"
],
"tags": [],
"current_charges": [],
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"Local government: Public school district"
],
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"categories": [
"Denial of Access"
],
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"Government event"
]
},
{
"title": "Man arrested, pleads guilty to threatening West Virginia-based news crew",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/man-arrested-pleads-guilty-to-threatening-west-virginia-based-news-crew/",
"first_published_at": "2023-05-19T15:01:41.526639Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-05-19T15:01:41.526639Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-05-19T15:01:41.392223Z",
"date": "2023-03-21",
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"city": "Steubenville",
"longitude": -80.63396,
"latitude": 40.36979,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9v5mn\">An Ohio man threatened a WTRF-TV news crew reporting outside the Jefferson County Justice Center in Steubenville, Ohio, on March 21, 2023. The man, Santino Chiovitti, 20, was subsequently arrested and pleaded guilty to inducing panic, according to court records.</p><p data-block-key=\"45e4p\">WTRF, which is located 40 miles away in Wheeling, West Virginia, <a href=\"https://www.wtrf.com/news/ohio-headlines/ohio-man-arrested-for-threatening-television-news-crew-and-media-staff/\">reported</a> that a man first called the newsroom on March 21 to demand that it take down an article about his sister’s arrest the day before. While speaking to News Director Brenda Danehart, Chiovitti allegedly became belligerent and verbally abusive, reportedly saying, “I think I see a WTRF car down the road, why don’t I just blow their heads off?”</p><p data-block-key=\"4q609\">Chiovitti hung up on Danehart before calling back and reaching Web Manager John Lynch. According to WTRF, Chiovitti asked whether he was speaking with the reporter he was looking at outside the justice center in Steubenville, which houses the sheriff’s department, county prosecutor’s office and juvenile detention center.</p><p data-block-key=\"1eg82\">The station reported that Chiovitti then approached the WTRF news crew while reaching into his jacket as though he had a firearm, telling the journalists — who were covering a press conference — that they’d want to hear what he had to say and instructing bystanders to leave.</p><p data-block-key=\"dml3u\">Chiovitti was arrested on one felony count of inducing panic and pleaded guilty. He was sentenced to 175 days in prison, which was stayed — meaning he will not serve the time — pending the completion of one year of probation and attendance of a counseling session.</p><p data-block-key=\"funuq\">WTRF reported that Chiovitti may face additional charges in Wheeling for the threats against the station. The office of the prosecuting attorney in Ohio County, West Virginia, reached by phone in May 2023, was unable to confirm whether there is an ongoing investigation into Chiovitti but said there are no open charges against him.</p></div>",
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"state": {
"name": "Ohio",
"abbreviation": "OH"
},
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"targeted_institutions": [
"WTRF-TV"
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"categories": [
"Other Incident"
],
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"Brenda Danehart (WTRF-TV)",
"John Lynch (WTRF-TV)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Neo-Nazi leader charged with sending death threats to New York journalist",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/neo-nazi-leader-charged-with-sending-death-threats-to-new-york-journalist/",
"first_published_at": "2023-03-30T17:16:28.370013Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-04-19T18:14:48.447732Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-04-19T18:14:48.234560Z",
"date": "2023-03-21",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"m3h14\">The former leader of neo-Nazi group Feuerkrieg Division was arrested on March 21, 2023, and charged with making death threats against a New York-based journalist who was reporting on the extremist group.</p><p data-block-key=\"sr7j\">The FKD is an “international racially or ethnically motivated violent extremist” group, <a href=\"https://www.justice.gov/d9/2023-03/fkd_filed_redacted_complaint.pdf\">according to the complaint</a>, and encourages attacks on racial minorities, the Jewish community, the LGBTQ community, journalists, the U.S. government and critical infrastructure.</p><p data-block-key=\"8db80\">A Justice Department <a href=\"https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/california-man-charged-conspiring-make-death-threats-against-brooklyn-based-journalist\">press release</a> alleges that in August 2021 Nicholas Welker, as the then-leader of FKD, and multiple co-conspirators created and shared a propaganda image threatening a journalist based in the Brooklyn borough of New York. The journalist’s name and outlet were redacted from the public complaint. FKD was disbanded in April 2022, according to the Justice Department.</p><p data-block-key=\"ahqis\">The image, included in the redacted complaint, has a picture of the journalist with the words “Race Traitor” over their eyes and a gun pointed to their head. It is captioned with “Journalist fuck off! You have been warned,” and says the reporter is “responsible for stalking our boys for information.”</p><p data-block-key=\"846ou\">The image was posted in a chat group used by FKD members and on Twitter, with multiple co-conspirators directly sending it to the journalist, asking if he’d seen their latest work.</p><p data-block-key=\"b8ikr\">Breon Peace, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, condemned Welker’s alleged crimes in the DOJ press release.</p><p data-block-key=\"cc1qg\">“[Welker] sought to quell freedom of expression and to intimidate and instill fear in a journalist and the journalist’s employer — a well-known news media organization. We will not hesitate to prosecute those who threaten the core values on which our society was founded, including freedom of the press.”</p><p data-block-key=\"d3puq\">Welker was charged with conspiring to transmit threatening communications, and faces up to five years in prison if convicted. He has not yet entered a formal plea.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ardu8\">A portion of a criminal complaint against Nicholas Welker, the former leader of a neo-Nazi group, who was charged on March 21, 2023, with making death threats against a New York-based journalist.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
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"(2024-04-19 00:00:00+00:00) Neo-Nazi leader sentenced to over three and a half years in prison for threats to journalist"
],
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"white nationalism"
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},
{
"title": "Judge rules Virginia county must turn over recording of closed meeting",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/judge-rules-virginia-county-must-turn-over-recording-of-closed-meeting/",
"first_published_at": "2024-02-13T23:06:36.808775Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-02-13T23:06:36.808775Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-02-13T16:50:39.182716Z",
"date": "2023-03-20",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Verona",
"longitude": -79.00836,
"latitude": 38.20208,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"6ukby\">A Virginia Circuit Court judge <a href=\"https://www.scribd.com/document/700108015/Breaking-Through-v-Augusta-Ruling\">ruled</a> on Jan. 11, 2024, that the Augusta County Board of Supervisors violated state code when it entered a closed session on March 20, 2023, and so must share a recording of the session with the media.</p><p data-block-key=\"1d9n8\">The ruling came in response to two lawsuits filed by news organizations and journalists after the county refused to comply with their Freedom of Information Act requests for the recording. The county has voted to appeal the ruling.</p><p data-block-key=\"e65dd\">According to Dec. 21, 2023, testimony in the case, described in <a href=\"https://www.newsleader.com/story/news/local/2024/01/18/augusta-supervisors-must-provide-closed-session-recording-judge-writes/72269455007/\">media</a> <a href=\"https://augustafreepress.com/news/judge-hears-arguments-in-augusta-county-foia-case-update-on-latest-developments/\">reports</a>, the March 20 closed session of the Board of Supervisors concerned member Steven Morelli, who had submitted his resignation shortly before the meeting. The motion to close the session cited an exemption for discussions of personnel matters, but did not give any other reason for closing it to the public.</p><p data-block-key=\"1b7c7\">Another board member, Scott Seaton, made a recording of the session without the knowledge of his colleagues; he had also secretly recorded several other closed sessions since he took office on Jan. 1, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"7sr7g\">When the board found out about the secret recordings, it <a href=\"https://www.newsleader.com/story/news/2023/08/02/augusta-county-board-of-supervisors-demands-scott-seatons-closed-session-recordings-via-foia/70518087007/\">demanded</a> that Seaton turn them over, citing Virginia’s FOIA. Seaton voluntarily turned the recordings over to the board on Aug. 9, but the board did not make the recordings available to the public.</p><p data-block-key=\"7l86m\"><a href=\"https://original.newsbreak.com/@breaking-through-news-1615604/3211590101726-seeking-the-truth-why-we-re-taking-augusta-county-to-court\">Breaking Through Media</a> and its editor, Samuel Orlando, and <a href=\"https://augustafreepress.com/news/afp-is-taking-augusta-county-to-court-to-get-access-to-march-20-closed-session-recording/\">Augusta Free Press</a> managing editor and founder, Chris Graham, subsequently filed two separate FOIA requests in August for the recording of the March 20 session. The parties also requested recordings of the other closed sessions that had been secretly recorded by Seaton. When the county failed to comply, both news organizations separately sued.</p><p data-block-key=\"ag9re\">The Augusta Free Press <a href=\"https://augustafreepress.com/news/analysis-augusta-county-6-brought-legal-scrutiny-on-itself-with-series-of-missteps/\">reported that</a> Judge Thomas Wilson IV, in his Jan. 11 ruling, agreed with Graham’s contention that the recordings, “having been turned over to the County, are now County public records.” Because they were not Seaton’s private property, the recordings were subject to FOIA, the judge ruled.</p><p data-block-key=\"6ka7l\">In a separate but related <a href=\"https://www.scribd.com/document/700108015/Breaking-Through-v-Augusta-Ruling\">ruling</a> on Breaking Through Media’s suit, Wilson wrote that under Virginia state code a body seeking to move into closed session must first satisfy three requirements, including specifically identifying the subject matter of the session.</p><p data-block-key=\"365t4\">Wilson wrote that the Augusta board claimed a personnel exemption for the closed session, and simply listed “Board of Supervisors” as the subject. That subject, Wilson agreed with Breaking Through Media, was “too cryptic, is merely a general reference to the subject matter, and does not contain the particularity I believe the statute requires.”</p><p data-block-key=\"bi3e7\">Wilson therefore found that the portion of the meeting discussing Morelli’s resignation was not exempt from Virginia’s FOIA, and ordered the county to provide the portion of the recording involving Morelli to the petitioners.</p><p data-block-key=\"buuto\">However, Wilson denied Breaking Through Media’s request for Seaton’s other recordings, agreeing with the county that none of the sessions “discussed the specific topics identified in the FOIA request.” He also rejected Graham’s argument that the personnel exemption did not apply to the meeting because Morelli had resigned. Wilson agreed with the county’s argument that under Virginia law, officials have until midnight to rescind their resignations and therefore, Morelli remained a supervisor at the meeting.</p><p data-block-key=\"crh2p\">The Board of Supervisors voted Jan. 24 to authorize an appeal of Wilson’s order, the Augusta Free Press <a href=\"https://augustafreepress.com/news/augusta-county-6-vote-to-fund-appeal-of-defeat-in-freedom-of-information-act-case/\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"6nk0b\">A representative of the board told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that once Wilson’s final order is entered, the county will seek a stay of the order until the case can be decided by an appellate court.</p><p data-block-key=\"31vk5\">Graham of the Augusta Free Press, in an email to the Tracker, said, “We're still waiting for the wheels of justice to grind on this.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"7p186\">Portion of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by Breaking Through Media, one of two suits that forced the release of a closed meeting by a Virginia county’s board of supervisors.</p>",
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"name": "Virginia",
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],
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},
{
"title": "City manager threatens reporter, outlet with legal action",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/city-manager-threatens-reporter-outlet-with-legal-action/",
"first_published_at": "2023-03-28T18:41:22.318271Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-03-29T13:44:28.843727Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-03-29T13:44:28.710781Z",
"date": "2023-03-20",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Newburgh",
"longitude": -74.01042,
"latitude": 41.50343,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"isezc\">New York broadcast station News 12 Hudson Valley and one of its reporters were threatened with legal action in a statement released by Newburgh city officials on March 20, 2023.</p><p data-block-key=\"4uill\">In the <a href=\"https://www.cityofnewburgh-ny.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=539\">statement</a>, part of a press release around a crime-reduction operation with the FBI in 2022, City Manager Todd Venning asserted that a News 12 reporter created a “conspiracy theory” suggesting the City of Newburgh was falsifying crime and arrest data and failing to submit reports to the state. Venning indicated that the City will pursue legal recourse.</p><p data-block-key=\"7qvu2\">“Legitimate reporters from well-credentialed news organizations don’t always get it right, so it’s not surprising to see a local television personality struggle with basic tenets of professional journalism,” Venning said. “The City will explore its legal options against this presenter and News 12 for its reckless disregard of the truth.”</p><p data-block-key=\"877qn\">Venning was referencing News 12 reporter Blaise Gomez’s <a href=\"https://bronx.news12.com/city-of-newburgh-officials-face-scrutiny-for-alleged-cover-up-to-improve-image\">March 15 reporting</a> in which she outlined a pattern of his office withholding information from the press and public. Gomez <a href=\"https://newjersey.news12.com/exclusive-sources-say-city-of-newburgh-manager-covering-up-crime-to-improve-image\">first reported</a> on the lack of transparency nearly a year prior, writing that Venning had issued what amounted to gag orders and directed information requests to go through City Hall.</p><p data-block-key=\"dr9qi\">As part of Gomez’s reporting, she interviewed Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler. In a <a href=\"https://midhudsonnews.com/2023/03/20/breaking-city-officials-attack-reporter-falsely-accuse-district-attorney-hoovler-video/\">recording of the interview</a> obtained by Mid Hudson News, Gomez asks multiple questions concerning allegations that Newburgh city officials are withholding information about crime in order to improve the city’s image. The interview did not include any mention of state or federal crime reporting requirements.</p><p data-block-key=\"1qjc\">Gomez declined to comment, directing questions to News 12; the station did not respond to requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"dhlb8\">When reached by phone, Venning told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker to direct all requests to [email protected]. The email to that address was returned as undeliverable. Michael Neppl, Venning’s chief of staff, responded after publication with an acknowledgement of requests for comment but provided no statement.</p><p data-block-key=\"34kf\"><i>Editor's Note: This article has been updated to reflect a response from a City of Newburgh representative.</i></p></div>",
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
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],
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{
"title": "Photojournalist choked, his camera damaged in attack at Maine drama competition",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-choked-his-camera-damaged-in-attack-at-maine-drama-competition/",
"first_published_at": "2023-04-28T17:43:48.635795Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-11-01T14:09:32.612351Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-11-01T14:09:32.515728Z",
"date": "2023-03-11",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Skowhegan",
"longitude": -69.71922,
"latitude": 44.76506,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"csjlq\">Michael G. Seamans, staff photojournalist for the Morning Sentinel in Maine, was assaulted and his camera damaged while photographing a high school drama competition in Skowhegan on March 11, 2023.</p><p data-block-key=\"10g9m\">Seamans told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he arrived at Skowhegan High School at about 6:30 p.m. and identified himself as a journalist to a woman in a hallway near the stage. She told him that photography wasn’t allowed. Seamans responded that he was confused why that would be the case, when high school sports are routinely photographed. He said she threw up her hands, told him to do whatever he wanted and then walked away.</p><p data-block-key=\"arcmm\">Seamans then connected with the director of the Madison High School drama program, his primary focus. Seamans said the director and the Skowhegan vice principal both authorized him to photograph the Madison students in the pre-show area in the cafeteria where they were getting ready to perform.</p><p data-block-key=\"enlf2\">“At this point I’m no longer photographing anything and only getting identifications of kids in my pictures,” Seamans said. “And now I hear the first person that I encountered, this woman, yelling at the Madison director about me.”</p><p data-block-key=\"b789b\">Seamans said he tried to intervene in order to diffuse the situation, saying that he was done and could leave the premises, but she kept yelling over him. He took a step back and made the gesture for a timeout.</p><p data-block-key=\"act92\">“A man, who I later came to learn was her husband, was standing behind be and he points at me and yells, ‘You’re not going to tell her to shut up!’” Seamans said. “That’s when his finger turned into his fist. And his fist opened up, grabbed me by the throat and threw me into a wall. At this point, I’m on my tip-toes, he has me almost elevated off my feet.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6gnjm\">Seamans said that the man continued to hold him there for nearly a minute as he held his hands up and asked for the man to let him go and for someone to call the police. He said the man only released him when a principal from the Skowhegan school system arrived, by which point Seamans’ vision had started to darken from the periphery and he had become disoriented.</p><p data-block-key=\"53nfu\">Seamans said that one of his cameras struck the wall during the altercation and was damaged.</p><p data-block-key=\"591fe\">The school officials then led Seamans to an office where they questioned him for nearly 30 minutes before consenting to his repeated requests for someone to call police. Seamans filed a police report and went to the emergency room where he was diagnosed with a concussion and significant bruising of the neck and throat. Seamans said his primary care physician instructed him during a follow-up visit to remain on leave from work until March 27.</p><p data-block-key=\"a3ik3\">“In nearly two decades of working in this industry, from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the locked-downed districts of Sierra Leone during the Ebola epidemic to the front lines of Ukraine, I’ve never been attacked so suddenly and abruptly before,” Seamans told the Tracker. “It’s a difficult scenario to articulate.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3ii5o\">When reached by phone, a Skowhegan Police Department officer said he could not discuss details from the investigation, but confirmed that the department had referred the case to the Somerset County District Attorney’s Office. DA Maeghan Maloney, in an emailed response to the Tracker, said that her office is reviewing additional footage from the incident and has not concluded its assessment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"h0skk\">Photojournalist Michael G. Seamans, pictured here in Ukraine in 2022, was injured while on assignment at a high school drama competition in March 2023 in Maine. A man grabbed him by the throat and slammed him against a wall, also damaging his camera.</p>",
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{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "camera"
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"name": "Maine",
"abbreviation": "ME"
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"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
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{
"title": "University staff member interrupts student journalist’s coverage at SEC Tournament",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/university-staff-member-interrupts-student-journalists-coverage-at-sec-tournament/",
"first_published_at": "2023-03-16T21:59:37.479575Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-02-29T17:33:37.771203Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-02-29T17:33:37.682918Z",
"date": "2023-03-10",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Nashville",
"longitude": -86.78444,
"latitude": 36.16589,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"7lsud\">While covering the Southeastern Conference Tournament in Nashville, Tennessee, on March 10, 2023, student photojournalist Jack Weaver’s coverage of men’s basketball was abruptly interrupted by a University of Arkansas staff member following the university’s loss.</p><p data-block-key=\"7733i\">Weaver told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was on assignment for the Kentucky Kernel, the student newspaper of the University of Kentucky. He went onto the court after the Arkansas-Texas A&M game to photograph the player and coach reactions, as he had done with previous games.</p><p data-block-key=\"2mhhn\">“As [Arkansas coach Eric Musselman] started making his way toward the tunnel, I took out my phone to grab a video of the team coming off the court. And that did not go as planned,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"ci717\">Weaver said that just as he began filming, Arkansas’ Director of Internal Operations Riley Hall grabbed the phone out of his hand and threw it.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Arkansas head coach Eric Musselman left the court in a rage of f-bombs after losing to Texas A&M in the <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/SECMBB?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#SECMBB</a> Tournament. His assistant then grabbed my phone and threw it at the ground. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/KYKernelSports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@KYKernelSports</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/xRiX7O7dAN\">pic.twitter.com/xRiX7O7dAN</a></p>— Jack Weaver (@jack_weaver_) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/jack_weaver_/status/1634380458988298241?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 11, 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=\"7lsud\">Weaver said that the three-second clip he <a href=\"https://twitter.com/jack_weaver_/status/1634380458988298241\">posted to Twitter</a> was all that his phone captured before it hit the ground and stopped recording, but that the phone was not damaged.</p><p data-block-key=\"3qdsm\">“I was wearing my press credentials, I had my camera around my neck and I was standing completely to the side by the rail with plenty of room to move there. I wasn’t in anyone’s way and was in an approved area,” Weaver said.</p><p data-block-key=\"86e2o\">“Obviously I’m fine, all he did was grab my phone and toss it. It’s not like he pushed me or broke my camera,” he said. “But still, nonetheless, you can’t do that. And I think people kind of understand that that’s not acceptable.”</p><p data-block-key=\"n1e5\">Weaver said the newsroom as well as professors at the university have been supportive. In a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/KyKernel/status/1634391245408591873\">statement on Twitter</a>, The Kernel said it was appalled by the incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"10bdo\">“Jack Weaver always embodies professionalism on the job and no journalist, especially a student journalist, should be subjected to violence for simply doing their job,” the statement read.</p><p data-block-key=\"7a1h3\">Hunter Yurachek, the vice chancellor and director of athletics at the University of Arkansas, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/HunterYurachek/status/1634634365987635200\">posted a statement on Twitter</a> the following day apologizing for the incident, which he characterized as accidental.</p><p data-block-key=\"al1ac\">“Mr. Hall expressed his regret that while leaving the floor his engagement inadvertently resulted in knocking the reporter’s cell phone from his hand,” Yurachek wrote. “While, based on our discussion, I do not believe there was malicious intent, I have addressed the issue with Mr. Hall and he agrees his actions were not appropriate or reflective of our program.”</p><p data-block-key=\"b8vdd\">Weaver told the Tracker that Hall also called him to apologize, reiterating that it had been unintentional. Weaver said that when he challenged that claim, Hall simply repeated that he was sorry and that it was an accident.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"may5e\">A member of the University of Arkansas coaching staff sports Razorbacks sneakers during the SEC Tournament on March 10, 2023.</p>",
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"name": "Tennessee",
"abbreviation": "TN"
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{
"title": "Judge delays public notice of Texas abortion pill hearing",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/judge-delays-public-notice-of-texas-abortion-pill-hearing/",
"first_published_at": "2023-03-21T20:21:41.263934Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-02-29T19:09:07.333624Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-02-29T19:09:07.257187Z",
"date": "2023-03-10",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Amarillo",
"longitude": -101.8313,
"latitude": 35.222,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"kl0fg\">A Texas judge presiding over a challenge to the Federal Drug Administration’s approval of a common abortion medication restricted public and press knowledge of a hearing by delaying putting it on the docket, or public schedule, and requesting attorneys involved in the case not publicize or draw attention to it.</p><p data-block-key=\"5h59q\">U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk told attorneys during a March 10, 2023, conference call that he would delay entering the March 15 hearing in Amarillo on the docket until the evening before, <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/03/11/texas-abortion-pill-hearing-kacsmaryk/\">according to The Washington Post</a>, which first reported the story. He also asked the attorneys for the “courtesy” of not sharing information about the hearing until then.</p><p data-block-key=\"51lc7\">According to the Post, hearings are normally quickly placed on the docket and delays are highly unusual.</p><p data-block-key=\"1l2p4\">In a transcript of the call <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/abortion-pill-mifepristone-transparency-fda-roe-wade-48c389dd3c892aa9bbc553e0b3de5360\">obtained by The Associated Press</a>, Kacsmaryk said that the case — which could have national implications for medical abortion access — had sparked protests and prompted death threats and harassing phone calls to the courthouse.</p><p data-block-key=\"6vbqj\">“Because of limited security resources and staffing, I will ask that the parties avoid further publicizing the date of the hearing,” Kacsmaryk said, according to the transcript. “We want a fluid hearing with all parties being heard. I think less advertisement of this hearing is better.”</p><p data-block-key=\"30i1t\">Judges have significant discretion over how they run their cases and there are no national policies or rules dictating when hearing notices need to be posted, the AP <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/abortion-pill-lawsuit-hearing-96a2466ea67dd12f0fdb7347f51a7f2f\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"2c56b\">Both outlets reported concerns that delayed scheduling would prevent the public and press from being able to attend the hearing, as Amarillo is located hours from all major cities in Texas.</p><p data-block-key=\"7b778\">A coalition of media outlets and press freedom advocates, which included the Post and multiple Texas-based newspapers, filed a <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.txnd.370067/gov.uscourts.txnd.370067.127.0_7.pdf\">letter objecting to the delay</a> on March 13.</p><p data-block-key=\"1vo9f\">“The Court’s attempt to delay notice of and, therefore, limit the ability of members of the public, including the press, to attend Wednesday’s hearing is unconstitutional, and undermines the important values served by public access to judicial proceedings and court records,” the letter read. “The Court cannot constitutionally close the courtroom indirectly when it cannot constitutionally close the courtroom directly.”</p><p data-block-key=\"f08l2\">Within hours of the letter being sent, the hearing was <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.txnd.370067/gov.uscourts.txnd.370067.129.0_9.pdf\">placed on the docket</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"4m9g5\">Freedom of the Press Foundation Advocacy Director Seth Stern echoed the coalition's objections, and said he was glad to see the hearing getting plenty of publicity despite the judge’s unconstitutional efforts.</p><p data-block-key=\"64mje\">“A ‘courtesy’ request to not publicize a hearing is a gag order by another name,” Stern said. “Lawyers won’t risk upsetting the judge deciding their case.”</p><p data-block-key=\"c3iaf\">As of publication, Kacsmaryk has not issued a ruling on the request to pause the availability of the drug, which was at issue in the March 15 hearing. NPR <a href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/03/17/1164112268/abortion-pill-drug-hearing-amarillo-texas-federal-judge-kacsmaryk\">reported</a> that a few dozen members of the press and public were allowed inside the courtroom, while small groups of demonstrators gathered outside.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"state": {
"name": "Texas",
"abbreviation": "TX"
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"targeted_institutions": [
"Media"
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"tags": [
"reproductive rights"
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{
"title": "Political journalist subpoenaed by state senator for source communications",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/political-journalist-subpoenaed-by-state-senator-for-source-communications/",
"first_published_at": "2023-04-06T19:04:22.232238Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-04-06T19:07:16.192435Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-04-06T19:07:16.111711Z",
"date": "2023-03-08",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Chesterfield",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"fggyd\">Brandon Jarvis, who authors the weekly political newsletter Virginia Scope, was subpoenaed by state Sen. Joe Morrissey on March 8, 2023, as part of the senator’s custody battle.</p><p data-block-key=\"d7e0p\">Jarvis told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he received subpoenas a few weeks after publishing a statement attributed to family members of the senator’s estranged wife, Myrna Morrissey. The judge in the custody case had issued a gag order barring the parents from speaking about the case while it was ongoing.</p><p data-block-key=\"8g87b\">Jarvis’ attorney, Tom Barbour Jr., said that Joe Morrissey issued three concurrent subpoenas — two addressed to Jarvis and <a href=\"/all-incidents/political-newsletter-subpoenaed-by-state-senator-for-source-communications/\">one to the Virginia Scope</a>. Jarvis and the Virginia Scope were both ordered to produce any text messages with Myrna Morrissey, her attorneys or her family members. Jarvis was additionally ordered to appear on March 24 to testify.</p><p data-block-key=\"fku1l\">Jarvis denied the existence of any such messages in a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Jaaavis/status/1633957662172880896\">post on Twitter</a> the day he received the subpoenas.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Just got a subpoena from Joe Morrissey for all my texts with his wife and her family between Feb. 1 and Feb. 5.</p>— Brandon Jarvis (@Jaaavis) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Jaaavis/status/1633957565607424001?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 9, 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=\"fggyd\">Jarvis told the Tracker that receiving the subpoenas and fighting them disrupted his reporting, especially his coverage of Joe Morrissey’s reelection campaign.</p><p data-block-key=\"ar7l8\">“There was other stuff happening in his race that I couldn’t necessarily cover in a timely fashion because I didn’t want to write anything about him while there was a gag order,” Jarvis said. “It was a stressful situation, because at the end of the line there is a possibility of jail time.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9a6c8\">Barbour filed a motion to quash the subpoenas on March 15, arguing in part that Jarvis’ communications are privileged under the First Amendment. A judge for the Chesterfield County Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court granted the motion on March 23, but left the door open for the senator to reissue the subpoenas if he exhausts all other avenues for obtaining the information.</p><p data-block-key=\"9iv32\">In a <a href=\"https://richmond.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/joe-morrissey-brandon-jarvis-shield-law-journalism-reporter-virginia-scope/article_93c726ea-ca6b-11ed-aa2a-fbf60859c38b.html\">statement to the Richmond Times-Dispatch</a>, Joe Morrissey said he was pleased with the ruling, saying that the judge had made it clear that Jarvis “is by no means off the hook at all.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8inuq\">Barbour told the Tracker that the case was particularly alarming because of the senator’s position in the state government.</p><p data-block-key=\"8jiof\">“It would be chilling enough if any citizen were doing it, but in this case we’ve got someone who holds elected office in our commonwealth attempting to determine who the confidential source of a political journalist is,” Barbour said. “I think that’s of great concern.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9a7sc\">Virginia is one of <a href=\"https://www.rcfp.org/reporters-privilege/\">nine states without a shield law</a> protecting journalists from court orders seeking their communications or work product.</p></div>",
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"subpoena_type": "journalist communications or work product",
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"state": {
"name": "Virginia",
"abbreviation": "VA"
},
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"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Brandon Jarvis (Virginia Scope)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [
"quashed"
],
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},
{
"title": "Political newsletter subpoenaed by state senator for source communications",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/political-newsletter-subpoenaed-by-state-senator-for-source-communications/",
"first_published_at": "2023-04-06T19:06:35.634704Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-04-06T19:06:35.634704Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-04-06T19:06:35.536564Z",
"date": "2023-03-08",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Chesterfield",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"p8rzd\">The Virginia Scope, a weekly political newsletter, and its author Brandon Jarvis were subpoenaed by state Sen. Joe Morrissey on March 8, 2023, as part of the senator’s custody battle.</p><p data-block-key=\"f5aeo\">Jarvis told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he received subpoenas a few weeks after publishing a statement attributed to family members of the senator’s estranged wife, Myrna Morrissey. The judge in the custody case had issued a gag order barring the parents from speaking about the case while it was ongoing.</p><p data-block-key=\"o864\">Jarvis’ attorney, Tom Barbour Jr., said that Joe Morrissey issued three concurrent subpoenas — one to the Virginia Scope and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/political-journalist-subpoenaed-by-state-senator-for-source-communications/\">two addressed to Jarvis</a>. Jarvis and the Virginia Scope were both ordered to produce any text messages with Myrna Morrissey, her attorneys or her family members. Jarvis was additionally ordered to appear on March 24 to testify.</p><p data-block-key=\"32bbh\">Jarvis denied the existence of any such messages in a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Jaaavis/status/1633957662172880896\">post on Twitter</a> the day he received the subpoenas.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Just got a subpoena from Joe Morrissey for all my texts with his wife and her family between Feb. 1 and Feb. 5.</p>— Brandon Jarvis (@Jaaavis) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Jaaavis/status/1633957565607424001?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 9, 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=\"p8rzd\">Jarvis told the Tracker that receiving the subpoenas and fighting them disrupted his reporting, especially his coverage of Joe Morrissey’s reelection campaign.</p><p data-block-key=\"cse48\">“There was other stuff happening in his race that I couldn’t necessarily cover in a timely fashion because I didn’t want to write anything about him while there was a gag order,” Jarvis said. “It was a stressful situation, because at the end of the line there is a possibility of jail time.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6ql1t\">Barbour filed a motion to quash the subpoenas on March 15, arguing in part that Jarvis’ communications are privileged under the First Amendment. A judge for the Chesterfield County Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court granted the motion on March 23, but left the door open for the senator to reissue the subpoenas if he exhausts all other avenues for obtaining the information.</p><p data-block-key=\"iikr\">In a <a href=\"https://richmond.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/joe-morrissey-brandon-jarvis-shield-law-journalism-reporter-virginia-scope/article_93c726ea-ca6b-11ed-aa2a-fbf60859c38b.html\">statement to the Richmond Times-Dispatch</a>, Joe Morrissey said he was pleased with the ruling, saying that the judge had made it clear that Jarvis “is by no means off the hook at all.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5hvm4\">Barbour told the Tracker that the case was particularly alarming because of the senator’s position in the state government.</p><p data-block-key=\"5lmhn\">“It would be chilling enough if any citizen were doing it, but in this case we’ve got someone who holds elected office in our commonwealth attempting to determine who the confidential source of a political journalist is,” Barbour said. “I think that’s of great concern.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9qkg5\">Virginia is one of <a href=\"https://www.rcfp.org/reporters-privilege/\">nine states without a shield law</a> protecting journalists from court orders seeking their communications or work product.</p></div>",
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"state": {
"name": "Virginia",
"abbreviation": "VA"
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"Virginia Scope"
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"Subpoena/Legal Order"
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"quashed"
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},
{
"title": "Oklahoma public officials accused of discussing killing local journalists",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/oklahoma-public-officials-accused-of-discussing-killing-local-journalists/",
"first_published_at": "2023-04-24T19:55:18.645931Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-02-29T19:09:23.298338Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-02-29T19:09:23.206834Z",
"date": "2023-03-06",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Idabel",
"longitude": -94.82633,
"latitude": 33.89566,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"crycp\">Several McCurtain County officials are accused of discussing how to kill two local journalists and making racist comments following a Board of Commissioners meeting on March 6, 2023 in Idabel, Oklahoma.</p><p data-block-key=\"1sj4t\">The McCurtain Gazette-News first published excerpts from the recording in its <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=597973632371133&set=pcb.597973882371108\">April 15 weekend print edition</a> and released the audio in full four days later. Publisher Bruce Willingham <a href=\"https://www.news9.com/story/643c8027600c0b072e7b2dc6/fbi-investigating-alleged-death-threats-made-by-county-officials-against-oklahoma-newspaper-reporters\">told News 9</a> that he left his recording device in the room following the conclusion of the meeting in an attempt to confirm his suspicion that they were still discussing official business, in violation of the state’s Open Meeting Act.</p><p data-block-key=\"bf59m\">The Oklahoman, which noted it had not independently verified the recording, <a href=\"https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/state/2023/04/20/full-audio-released-of-oklahoma-sheriff-discussing-killing-journalists-mccurtain-county/70132913007/\">published the audio</a> to its YouTube channel and identified six public officials’ voices. The <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvykIw4flZk\">3-½ hour recording</a> allegedly captures McCurtain County Sheriff Kevin Clardy, Sheriff’s investigator Alicia Manning, Commissioner Mark Jennings and Jail administrator Larry Hendrix discussing the killing of Bruce Willingham and his son Chris Willingham, a reporter for the Gazette-News.</p><p data-block-key=\"5nrn0\">In the recording, an official says he knows of hit men to hire in Louisiana. “I've known two or three hit men, they're very quiet guys, yeah, who would cut no fucking mercy,” the official said.</p><p data-block-key=\"qte0\">The group also discussed where to hide the journalists’ bodies, and buying an old military tank in order to drive it into the newspaper’s building, the Oklahoman reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"4d3a\">When reached for comment, the Gazette-News directed the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker to its attorney, Christin Jones. Jones was unable to be reached by phone, and did not respond to an emailed request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"56qc4\">The audio was recorded on the same day that Chris Willingham filed a <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.oked.34137/gov.uscourts.oked.34137.2.0.pdf\">defamation lawsuit</a> against the board of county commissioners, the sheriff’s office, its investigator Manning and Sheriff Clardy. In the suit, he alleges that during a June 2022 teleconference, Manning accused him of exchanging marijuana for pornographic videos of children, connecting him to a man recently arrested for such crimes. Chris Willingham said the accusation was in direct retaliation for his 8-part series of articles investigating allegations of misconduct at the sheriff’s office.</p><p data-block-key=\"3n6ce\">Bruce Willingham <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/mccurtain-oklahoma-racist-killing-journalists-recording-8e445b2359b67622d5f6c1f75554c750\">told The Associated Press</a> he believes the officials were upset by other articles published in the Gazette-News. The newspaper had filed a lawsuit against the sheriff’s office for body camera footage and records in the 2022 death of an Oklahoma man.</p><p data-block-key=\"aoqeo\">Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt called for the resignations of the county officials on April 16, <a href=\"https://oklahoma.gov/governor/newsroom/newsroom/2023/april2023/governor-stitt-calls-for-resignation-of-mccurtain-county-officia.html\">releasing this statement</a>:</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-blockquote\">\n\n<blockquote class=\"blockquote\" >\n\t<div class=\"rich-text\"><p data-block-key=\"30kc3\"><i>“I am both appalled and disheartened to hear of the horrid comments made by officials in McCurtain County. There is simply no place for such hateful rhetoric in the state of Oklahoma, especially by those that serve to represent the community through their respective office. I will not stand idly by while this takes place.”</i></p></div>\n\t\n</blockquote>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"crycp\">Stitt also announced that he would be calling on the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation to determine whether the officials had engaged in criminal conduct.</p><p data-block-key=\"8plv4\">KSLA News 12 <a href=\"https://www.ksla.com/2023/04/17/hundreds-gather-mccurtain-co-sheriffs-office-call-resignation-sheriff-others-over-recording-threatening-comments/\">reported</a> that approximately 100 people protested outside the McCurtain County Sheriff’s Office on April 17, demanding that Clardy and the other officials resign. Later that evening, the sheriff’s office <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=245359354686191&id=100076363850310\">issued a statement on Facebook</a>, writing that, “This is a very complex situation and one we regret having to address.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3im3f\">The statement goes on to say the recordings have not been authenticated, and that the sheriff’s office is conducting an ongoing investigation into whether Bruce Willingham illegally recorded the conversation in violation of the Oklahoma Security of Communications Act.</p><p data-block-key=\"96jer\">Idabel Mayor Craig Young criticized the sheriff’s office for “doubling down” defending itself amid the allegations, <a href=\"https://www.publicradiotulsa.org/local-regional/2023-04-18/its-a-joke-idabel-mayor-calls-out-sheriffs-statement-doubles-down-on-call-for-resignation\">according to Public Radio Tulsa</a>, and echoed calls for the officials’ resignations.</p><p data-block-key=\"ec2h7\">Commissioner Jennings resigned his position on April 18, <a href=\"https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/state/2023/04/20/full-audio-released-of-oklahoma-sheriff-discussing-killing-journalists-mccurtain-county/70132913007/\">according to the Oklahoman</a>. On April 21 Stitt <a href=\"https://oklahoma.gov/governor/newsroom/newsroom/2023/april2023/governor-stitt-calls-on-attorney-general-to-hold-mccurtain-count.html\">called on</a> the state’s attorney general to investigate complaints of misconduct against Clardy and remove him from office.</p></div>",
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"state": {
"name": "Oklahoma",
"abbreviation": "OK"
},
"updates": [
"(2023-06-30 00:00:00+00:00) State AG says there will be no penalty for sheriff said to have talked of killing journalists"
],
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"categories": [
"Chilling Statement"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Bruce Willingham (McCurtain Gazette-News)",
"Chris Willingham (McCurtain Gazette-News)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Newspaper subpoenaed for reporter’s notes from jailhouse interview",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/newspaper-subpoenaed-for-reporters-notes-from-jailhouse-interview/",
"first_published_at": "2023-05-19T19:46:21.460981Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-11-09T16:59:52.476450Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-11-09T16:59:52.347531Z",
"date": "2023-03-03",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Bakersfield",
"longitude": -119.01871,
"latitude": 35.37329,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"zzzjn\">The Bakersfield Californian was subpoenaed on March 3, 2023, for copies of unpublished materials from a jailhouse interview conducted by one of the newspaper’s reporters. While the subpoena was quashed on April 4, a nearly identical subpoena was issued the same day. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented the second subpoena <a href=\"/all-incidents/newspaper-ordered-to-comply-with-subpoena-for-jailhouse-interview-notes/\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"erpv5\">The dispute began after Californian reporter Ishani Desai conducted a jailhouse interview in February with Sebastian Parra. Parra was a key witness in the murder indictment of another inmate, Robert Pernell Roberts, but was subsequently indicted as a co-defendant.</p><p data-block-key=\"buqi5\">The Californian published <a href=\"https://www.bakersfield.com/news/man-indicted-in-shooting-death-of-corrections-counselor-denies-murder/article_c9ca6746-b555-11ed-8227-e3b918ad2c29.html\">Desai’s article</a> about Parra on Feb. 26. On March 3, public defender Alexandria Blythe, who represents Roberts, subpoenaed the newspaper seeking any audio or video recordings of the interview or, if no recording exists, a copy of Desai’s notes and interview questions. The subpoena ordered the newspaper to provide the records by March 20, and whomever has access to the records to attend the hearing on that date.</p><p data-block-key=\"8eq2k\">An attorney representing the newspaper, Thomas Burke, filed objections to the subpoena on March 7. He argued that in addition to the subpoena being improperly filed, all of the requested materials are privileged under California Shield Law, the state constitution and the First Amendment.</p><p data-block-key=\"378dl\">On March 15, Blythe reissued the subpoena after correctly notifying The Californian, but kept the March 20 deadline. The newspaper filed a motion to quash the subpoena the following day.</p><p data-block-key=\"42q1\">“For decades, California law has protected newsgathering from intrusive measures by overzealous parties involved in criminal and civil cases,” Burke wrote. “[These] subpoenas are precisely the type of overreach that the Shield Law is designed to prevent.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ecj7h\">Kern County Superior Court Judge Elizabet Rodriguez quashed the subpoena on April 4, ruling that Blythe had not shown that the documents would assist in Roberts’ defense. Burke told the Tracker that the judge invited Blythe to refile. According to court records, an <a href=\"/all-incidents/newspaper-ordered-to-comply-with-subpoena-for-jailhouse-interview-notes/\">identical subpoena</a> was issued that day but not served on The Californian until April 10.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"8e1v7\">A portion of a subpoena issued to The Bakersfield Californian on March 3, 2023, seeking recordings or notes from reporter Ishani Desai’s jailhouse interview with a defendant charged with murder.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
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"targeted_institutions": [
"The Bakersfield Californian"
],
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"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
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"subpoena_statuses": [
"quashed"
],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Judge bars media from publishing on expelled student suing UNC system",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/judge-bars-media-from-publishing-on-expelled-student-suing-unc-system/",
"first_published_at": "2023-02-28T18:43:10.249527Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-03-01T17:36:58.959821Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-03-01T17:36:58.886857Z",
"date": "2023-02-22",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Asheville",
"longitude": -82.55402,
"latitude": 35.60095,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"4nw6o\">An Asheville judge issued an order barring members of the press from publishing about a former student who is suing the University of North Carolina System and multiple university administrators on Feb. 22, 2023, according to court records.</p><p data-block-key=\"gou4\">The plaintiff, who filed <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ncwd.111064/gov.uscourts.ncwd.111064.1.0.pdf\">the suit</a> on Feb. 15 under the pseudonym Jacob Doe, alleges that he was wrongfully expelled from UNC Chapel Hill after being accused of sexual assault by four undergraduate women.</p><p data-block-key=\"dgv7k\">When filing the suit, Doe simultaneously filed the motion for a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction, requesting that no information be released by the defendants or published by the media. Those filings appear to have been sealed and are not available for public review.</p><p data-block-key=\"eomrj\">Chief United States District Judge Martin Reidinger <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ncwd.111064/gov.uscourts.ncwd.111064.14.0.pdf\">granted the temporary restraining order</a> on Feb. 22, citing possible irreparable harm to the plaintiff. The order bars the defendants from disclosing any information about the disciplinary proceedings at the heart of the lawsuit and requires them to inform media outlets about the restraint.</p><p data-block-key=\"du2h4\">The order also requires the defendants to instruct news outlets that “they are prohibited from publishing any information concerning the Plaintiff, the disciplinary proceedings, or the outcomes of such proceedings.” It is unclear which media outlets, if any, were informed of the order.</p><p data-block-key=\"2qe2i\">Immediately after the restraint went into effect, the parties jointly <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ncwd.111064/gov.uscourts.ncwd.111064.15.0.pdf\">filed to withdraw</a> the motion, asking the judge to dissolve the TRO and cancel a preliminary hearing scheduled for March 7.</p><p data-block-key=\"4dfss\">As of publication the restraining order remains in effect.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"1r90c\">Students walk across the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in this 2018 file photo. As part of a lawsuit against the university system, a judge approved a motion barring media from publishing information about a former student or his expulsion.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"name_of_business": null,
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"status_of_prior_restraint": "dropped",
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"state": {
"name": "North Carolina",
"abbreviation": "NC"
},
"updates": [
"(2023-03-01 12:27:00+00:00) Judge lifts order barring media from publishing on former student suing UNC system"
],
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"targeted_institutions": [
"Media"
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"categories": [
"Prior Restraint"
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},
{
"title": "Spectrum News 13 photographer shot while reporting; reporter killed",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/spectrum-news-13-photographer-shot-while-reporting-reporter-killed/",
"first_published_at": "2023-02-23T03:59:19.301566Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-04-04T20:21:57.934782Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-04-04T20:21:57.809925Z",
"date": "2023-02-22",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Pine Hills",
"longitude": -81.4534,
"latitude": 28.55778,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"g2d8j\">Two Spectrum News 13 journalists were shot while reporting at the scene of a homicide investigation in the Orlando suburb of Pine Hills, Florida, on Feb. 22, 2023. A reporter was declared dead at a local hospital where a photojournalist remains in critical condition, according to <a href=\"https://twitter.com/SeminoleSO/status/1628566085849972739\">multiple</a> <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/22/us/florida-shooting-news.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur\">sources</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"34et3\">The reporter and photojournalist were reporting on an Orange County Sheriff’s Office investigation into the shooting of a 20-year-old woman at approximately 11 a.m. that day, Spectrum News 13 <a href=\"https://www.mynews13.com/fl/orlando/news/2023/02/22/police--shots-fired-near-scene-of-pine-hills-murder-investigation#\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"dsu9n\">Shortly after 4 p.m., a man believed to be the suspect in that shooting approached the news crew as they were sitting in an unmarked news vehicle and shot them. The man then continued to a nearby home and shot a woman and her 9-year-old daughter.</p><p data-block-key=\"8q6qk\">WFTV Channel 9 News reporter Sabrina Maggiore <a href=\"https://twitter.com/SabrinaWFTV/status/1628534860158582785\">wrote on Twitter</a> that the shooter walked past a WFTV news crew at the scene before opening fire on the Spectrum News crew. She wrote that the WFTV crew ran up to the journalists to provide aid before emergency crews arrived.</p><p data-block-key=\"fk6vf\">Spectrum News 13 reported that it is not currently releasing the names of the reporter and photojournalist out of respect for their families.</p><p data-block-key=\"1bbvo\">Sheriff John Mina said in a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/OrangeCoSheriff/status/1628547278582718464\">press conference</a> at 7:15 p.m. that a man had been arrested in connection with the shootings.</p><p data-block-key=\"7kro\">“We have detained the person believed to be responsible for the murder this morning as well as the shootings this afternoon,” Mina said. “He is being formally charged in the murder from this morning, and we expect additional charges for the shootings of the four people this afternoon.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9e6vk\">Mina added that the shooter’s motives were unclear and they had not yet determined whether the news crew were targeted because they were covering the first shooting.</p><p data-block-key=\"e8dtg\">“I want to acknowledge what a horrible day this has been for our community and our media partners,” Mina said. “No one in our community — not a mother, not a 9-year-old, and certainly not news professionals — should become the victim of gun violence.”</p><p data-block-key=\"17en0\">Charter Communications, Spectrum News 13's parent company, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MyNews13/status/1628575748612030467\">released a statement</a> on Twitter following the shooting: "We are deeply saddened by the loss of our colleague and the other lives senselessly taken today. Our thoughts are with our employee’s family, friends and co-workers during this very difficult time. We remain hopeful that our other colleague who was injured makes a full recovery. This is a terrible tragedy for the Orlando community.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9i9lc\">WESH 2 News Reporter Luana Munoz <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Luana_Munoz/status/1628544709667815433\">tweeted</a> that she and other members of the news media community had gathered at the hospital in solidarity.</p><p data-block-key=\"el2d3\">“This is every reporter's absolutely worst nightmare. We go home at night afraid that something like this will occur, and that is what happened here,” Munoz <a href=\"https://www.wesh.com/article/orlando-news-crew-shot/43033137#\">said</a> during a report from the hospital.</p><p data-block-key=\"3eljf\">Since 2017, <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?tags=shot+%2F+shot+at&categories=Assault\">more than 300</a> journalists have been shot at or shot, according to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s database. The Spectrum News 13 reporter is the seventh journalist to be <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?tags=killed\">killed</a> in the course of or as the result of their reporting.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"f1u4b\">Spectrum News 13 photographer Jesse Walden speaks from his hospital bed after he and his colleague Dylan Lyons were shot while reporting in Pine Hills, Florida, on Feb. 22, 2023. Walden was critically injured, and Lyons died as a result of his injuries.</p>",
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"(2023-02-23 21:17:00+00:00) Spectrum News 13 photojournalist hopes to be released from hospital in coming days",
"(2023-02-23 08:37:00+00:00) Photojournalist critically injured while reporting identified as Jesse Walden",
"(2023-02-28 13:15:00+00:00) Man charged with attempted murder in the shooting of Spectrum News photojournalist",
"(2023-03-10 16:36:00+00:00) Additional charges brought against alleged shooter of Spectrum News photojournalist",
"(2023-03-30 16:21:00+00:00) Alleged shooter of Spectrum News photojournalist indicted on first-degree murder charges"
],
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{
"title": "Spectrum News 13 reporter killed, photographer shot while reporting",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/spectrum-news-13-reporter-killed-photographer-shot-while-reporting/",
"first_published_at": "2023-02-23T03:52:06.970554Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-12-08T21:05:49.402488Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-12-08T21:05:49.280315Z",
"date": "2023-02-22",
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"city": "Pine Hills",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"lezu8\">Two Spectrum News 13 journalists were shot while reporting at the scene of a homicide investigation in the Orlando suburb of Pine Hills, Florida, on Feb. 22, 2023. A reporter was declared dead at a local hospital where a photojournalist remains in critical condition, according to <a href=\"https://twitter.com/SeminoleSO/status/1628566085849972739\">multiple</a> <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/22/us/florida-shooting-news.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur\">sources</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"48n4a\">The reporter and photojournalist were reporting on an Orange County Sheriff’s Office investigation into the shooting of a 20-year-old woman at approximately 11 a.m. that day, Spectrum News 13 <a href=\"https://www.mynews13.com/fl/orlando/news/2023/02/22/police--shots-fired-near-scene-of-pine-hills-murder-investigation#\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"b4jp3\">Shortly after 4 p.m., a man believed to be the suspect in that shooting approached the news crew as they were sitting in an unmarked news vehicle and shot them. The man then continued to a nearby home and shot a woman and her 9-year-old daughter.</p><p data-block-key=\"1vbf7\">WFTV Channel 9 News reporter Sabrina Maggiore <a href=\"https://twitter.com/SabrinaWFTV/status/1628534860158582785\">wrote on Twitter</a> that the shooter walked past a WFTV news crew at the scene before opening fire on the Spectrum News crew. She wrote that the WFTV crew ran up to the journalists to provide aid before emergency crews arrived.</p><p data-block-key=\"mbs6\">Spectrum News 13 reported that it is not currently releasing the names of the reporter and photojournalist out of respect for their families.</p><p data-block-key=\"50m18\">Sheriff John Mina said in a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/OrangeCoSheriff/status/1628547278582718464\">press conference</a> at 7:15 p.m. that a man had been arrested in connection with the shootings.</p><p data-block-key=\"418nn\">“We have detained the person believed to be responsible for the murder this morning as well as the shootings this afternoon,” Mina said. “He is being formally charged in the murder from this morning, and we expect additional charges for the shootings of the four people this afternoon.”</p><p data-block-key=\"51lkp\">Mina added that the shooter’s motives were unclear and they had not yet determined whether the news crew were targeted because they were covering the first shooting.</p><p data-block-key=\"fe35d\">“I want to acknowledge what a horrible day this has been for our community and our media partners,” Mina said. “No one in our community — not a mother, not a 9-year-old, and certainly not news professionals — should become the victim of gun violence.”</p><p data-block-key=\"26pb7\">Charter Communications, Spectrum News 13's parent company, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MyNews13/status/1628575748612030467\">released a statement</a> on Twitter following the shooting: "We are deeply saddened by the loss of our colleague and the other lives senselessly taken today. Our thoughts are with our employee’s family, friends and co-workers during this very difficult time. We remain hopeful that our other colleague who was injured makes a full recovery. This is a terrible tragedy for the Orlando community.”</p><p data-block-key=\"cvkdn\">WESH 2 News Reporter Luana Munoz <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Luana_Munoz/status/1628544709667815433\">tweeted</a> that she and other members of the news media community had gathered at the hospital in solidarity.</p><p data-block-key=\"qljq\">“This is every reporter's absolutely worst nightmare. We go home at night afraid that something like this will occur, and that is what happened here,” Munoz <a href=\"https://www.wesh.com/article/orlando-news-crew-shot/43033137#\">said</a> during a report from the hospital.</p><p data-block-key=\"9mrpk\">Since 2017, <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?tags=shot+%2F+shot+at&categories=Assault\">more than 300</a> journalists have been shot at or shot, according to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s database. The Spectrum News 13 reporter is the seventh journalist to be <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?tags=killed\">killed</a> in the course of or as the result of their reporting.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"cvlvl\">Spectrum News 13 reporter Dylan Lyons, 24, was killed in a shooting in the Orlando suburb of Pine Hills, Florida, on Feb. 22, 2023. His colleague, photojournalist Jesse Walden, 29, was critically injured.</p>",
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"updates": [
"(2023-02-23 08:16:00+00:00) Reporter killed while covering homicide identifed as Dylan Lyons, 24",
"(2023-03-10 16:34:00+00:00) Additional charges brought against alleged shooter of Spectrum News reporter",
"(2023-02-28 13:14:00+00:00) Man charged in the shooting death of Spectrum News reporter",
"(2023-03-30 16:19:00+00:00) Alleged shooter of Spectrum News reporter indicted on first-degree murder charges"
],
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},
{
"title": "Florida city officials enact media conduct rules, threaten to ban editor",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/florida-city-officials-enact-media-conduct-rules-sanction-editor/",
"first_published_at": "2023-08-22T13:03:33.870090Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-12-20T20:40:44.451002Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-12-20T20:40:44.368037Z",
"date": "2023-02-09",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Winter Garden",
"longitude": -81.58618,
"latitude": 28.56528,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"b0acw\">Rules regarding media conduct passed by city officials in Winter Garden, Florida, on Feb. 9, 2023 — called unconstitutional by press freedom advocates — were cited in a June letter sanctioning the editor-in-chief of a local publication.</p><p data-block-key=\"3dj2\">The new rules were part of a <a href=\"https://b667e21d-f732-407f-92f2-2a0e061d7d85.usrfiles.com/ugd/b667e2_441450c95d774cd8b4af7431334c74b3.pdf\">resolution</a> that stipulates that journalists are not to ask officials questions before or after city commission meetings or during the meetings’ public comment periods. The rules also direct members of the press to contact the city-designated public information officer with requests for comment or interviews, though no such appointee exists, <a href=\"https://www.scribd.com/document/663014736/First-Amendment-Foundation-letter-to-City-of-Winter-Garden#\">according to the First Amendment Foundation</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"6lkti\">The Orlando Sentinel <a href=\"https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2023/08/04/winter-gardens-new-restrictions-on-journalists-are-unconstitutional-first-amendment-experts-say/\">reported</a> that City Manager Jon Williams proposed the resolution in direct response to VoxPopuli Editor-in-Chief Norine Dworkin’s use of the public comment portion of commission meetings to ask questions. Williams, in response to emailed questions from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, declined to state the motivation behind the resolution.</p><p data-block-key=\"ci6ki\">Dworkin told the Tracker that she is often one of the few members of the media present at the City Commission meetings, and that she asks questions during the public comment period only when her calls and emails go unanswered.</p><p data-block-key=\"5p6uv\">“When I want to make a point or when I haven’t gotten a response, I would go and use the public comment forum and ask publicly because it’s harder to dodge the question in front of your constituents,” Dworkin said.</p><p data-block-key=\"8o0kv\">After the media rules were passed, Dworkin said she kept asking questions without issue. “I continued to just do my job and do all the things I normally do,” Dworkin said, “until I asked about the neo-Nazis.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ce5ua\">It was during the City Commission meeting on June 22 that Dworkin <a href=\"https://www.wintergardenvox.com/post/mayor-sidesteps-condemnation-of-neo-nazis-who-spread-antisemitic-flyers-in-winter-garden\">asked Mayor John Rees</a> whether he condemned the neo-Nazis who distributed antisemitic pamphlets in neighborhoods in Winter Garden and the nearby town of Oakland. The following day, Dworkin received an official notice of violation, which stated that she would be banned from the meetings if she continued to defy the resolution.</p><p data-block-key=\"bu4h1\">Williams defended the resolution in an email to the Tracker, stating that the guidelines were intended to ensure the meetings are “courteous and orderly” and that citizens can raise concerns for consideration by the commission.</p><p data-block-key=\"tq80\">“City Commission meetings are not an open public forum (like a public sidewalk), but are a limited public forum,” Williams wrote. “The public comment portion of the meetings are not offered as a platform to address matters that are not city business.”</p><p data-block-key=\"7orde\">The First Amendment Foundation <a href=\"https://www.scribd.com/document/663014736/First-Amendment-Foundation-letter-to-City-of-Winter-Garden#\">sent a letter</a> to Rees and Williams on July 25 challenging the constitutionality of the resolution and encouraging them to rework the resolution to comply with state and federal law.</p><p data-block-key=\"4d3h5\">“Denying [journalists] access to officials during public comment periods or forbidding them from asking them questions when the officials enter or leave meetings can only be seen as a violation of the journalist’s First Amendment rights,” wrote Executive Director Bobby Block.</p><p data-block-key=\"f9i23\">Williams told the Tracker that city management had a “productive” meeting with representatives from the First Amendment Foundation on Aug. 3 to discuss the organization’s concerns. The city is now awaiting the foundation’s specific proposed revisions to the resolution.</p><p data-block-key=\"1dl2\">Dworkin said that though this issue started with her, it’s not really about her or VoxPopuli.</p><p data-block-key=\"60v26\">“This is really about the First Amendment, it’s about press freedom and it’s about having access to the elected officials and being able to ask them questions and to hold them accountable,” Dworkin said. “That’s all this has ever been about.”</p></div>",
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"name": "Florida",
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},
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],
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],
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"categories": [
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],
"targeted_journalists": [
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],
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},
{
"title": "MinnPost reporter reinstated to press list after coalition backing",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/minnpostcom-reporter-reinstated-to-press-list-after-coalition-defends-media-access/",
"first_published_at": "2023-05-10T19:48:29.478523Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-12-20T20:40:06.834777Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-12-20T20:40:06.706072Z",
"date": "2023-02-09",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "St. Paul",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"0yke0\">MinnPost reporter Peter Callaghan was removed on Feb. 10, 2023, from the Minnesota House DFL Caucus media distribution list in apparent retaliation and reinstated a few weeks later after a coalition of news media defended the reporter and media access.</p><p data-block-key=\"144ss\">According to MinnPost editor Elizabeth Dunbar, Callaghan is back on the media list receiving emails and correspondence “just like other members of the press.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9pqef\">The reporter’s removal stemmed from an incident on Feb. 9 between Callaghan and Matt Roznowski, the Director of Communications and Public Affairs for the House Democratic-Farmer-Labor Caucus. The DFL party currently holds five of the state’s offices including governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, state auditor and state attorney general.</p><p data-block-key=\"ahuek\">Following a verbal exchange between the two during a press conference at the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul, Callaghan was removed from the House press list that provides updates to reporters with access to press releases and press conferences.</p><p data-block-key=\"c923s\">The MinnPost subsequently sent a letter to the House DFL Caucus objecting to Callaghan’s treatment and defending the media’s right to access public officials.</p><p data-block-key=\"ahalr\">By Feb. 27, Callaghan had his media access restored, however in a back-and-forth exchange of correspondence between the House DFL Caucus and the MinnPost, the House DFL Caucus accused Callaghan of discrimination and harassment based on comments the reporter had made at the press conference.</p><p data-block-key=\"3ltom\">In an April 12 letter, Leita Walker, an attorney with Ballard Spahr LLP, notified the House DFL Caucus that she represented a coalition of national and local news organizations that were <a href=\"https://www.minnpost.com/inside-minnpost/2023/04/why-we-sent-a-coalition-letter-expressing-concern-over-the-treatment-of-our-reporter-peter-callaghan/\">banding together to defend Callaghan</a> and the media’s right to access. The coalition included: Axios, Fox affiliate KMSP-TV, NBC affiliate KARE-TV, the Mankato Free Press, the Minnesota Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, Minnesota Public Radio, The Minnesota Reformer, the MinnPost.com, the (St. Paul) Pioneer Press and The Star Tribune.</p><p data-block-key=\"b5t7g\">“Excluding a member of the media from government communications after that member made a pointed but justifiable comment during a press conference smacks of retaliation and raises serious constitutional concerns,” Walker wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"cbnoc\">In response, Speaker of the House Rep. Melissa Hortman made a <a href=\"https://www.audacy.com/wccoradio/news/local/house-speaker-responds-to-calls-of-mistreatment-of-reporter\">public statement</a> on April 14 explaining that a 2018 policy requires the House to investigate “an allegation of conduct that violates the House Policy Against Discrimination and Harassment.” Hortman said the House had taken action following Callaghan’s alleged behavior at the February press conference.</p><p data-block-key=\"dfses\">A few days later, on April 17, Hortman wrote again — this time acknowledging the media coalition letter. Hortman said the February press conference led to “flared tempers and misunderstandings” and suggested mending fences.</p><p data-block-key=\"fa8av\">“I would be happy to meet with the media to discuss how we can rebuild trust and improve relationships going forward,” she stated in the letter.</p><p data-block-key=\"ckoek\">As of May 9, members of the coalition are “discussing a follow-up meeting” with the Speaker of the House but nothing had been scheduled, MinnPost editor Dunbar said in an email with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. There have been no new concerns about retaliation against Callaghan, she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"83us4\">When reached for comment, Ted Modrich, Minnesota House DFL Press Secretary who serves as Senior Advisor to the Speaker of the House and who responded for Melissa Hortman, said in an email: “The Speaker doesn’t have any comment beyond what she has already said publicly.”</p></div>",
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"state": {
"name": "Minnesota",
"abbreviation": "MN"
},
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"Denial of Access"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Peter Callaghan (MinnPost)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": [
"Press credential or media list"
]
}
]
