With travel costs eating up the budgets of the big media companies, they will look to save money by ending man-to-man coverage of also rans including Newt Gingrich, predicts John Ellis of BuzzFeed.-db From a commentary in BuzzFeed, January 31, 2012, by John Ellis. Full story
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press did not like a federal appeals decision upholding a law restricting access to Virginia state records by non-residents. The court ruled that the restriction was not unconstitutional. The Reporters Committee felt the court should have considered the effect of the restriction on smaller journalistic enterprises. -db From [...]
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that non-residents have no right to Virginia public records under the state’s freedom of information law. Non-residents were challenging the law claiming it was unconstitutional. The two non-residents who sued the state were seeking child support documents and real estate tax assessment records. -db From The Reporters [...]
Two years after President Barack Obama ordered government agencies to come up to speed on declassifying 400 million pages of old records, there has been little progress. The failure to make more progress is a sign that the secrecy system considers itself immune from presidential orders, writes Steven Aftergood of Secrecy News. -db From a [...]
The Oregon case denying a blogger protection under the state;’s shield is of minor concern writes Eric P. Robinson for the Citizen Media Law Project. A greater threat lies in a recent decision in Illinois. In that case the Cook County court ruled that an online news source that posted blogs on technology did not [...]
The Justice Department wants a federal judge to allow them to withhold photos of the death of Osama bin Laden on the grounds that releasing the photos could incite violence against the U.S. The DOJ disputed the arguments of Judicial Watch that making the photos public would cause harm to national security by revealing intelligence [...]
The Public Insight Network (PIN) is launching its own reporting unit to produce original stories tapping into its huge database of 130,000 citizen sources. Citizens across America and recently South Africa have been reporting their experiences to the PIN database. Reporters can use the sources to write stories on such topics as foreclosures or the [...]
The Justice Department is charging a former intelligence officer with leaking classified information to a journalist. The leaks included the names of covert officers and their work in apprehending terrorist suspects. The officer is charged with divulging to a New York Times reporter the contact information and details of activities of a covert CIA operative. [...]
FBI said it was checking into the possibility that News Corp’s News of the World reporters were hacking into the voice mail of actor Jude Law at JFK Airport in New York. -db From AdWeek, January 20 2012, by Emma Bazilian. Full story
Prosecutors in the case of a former CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling accused of leaking classified information are attempting to reverse a lower court finding that a New York Times reporter James Risen was exempt from disclosing his sources for a story on a CIA program to disrupt Iran’s nuclear program. The government prosecutors claim that [...]
Tags: CIA, First Amendment, free press, Homeland Battlefield Bill, James Risen, Jeffrey Sterling, National Security, reporter's privilege, terrorism, Truthdig.com, war on terrorism
A paparazzo is suing Lindsay Lohan for running over him in a chauffeur-driven vehicle in 2010. -db From the Courthouse News Service, January 11, 2012. Full story
A prominent blogger purchased a $300 toy chopper to help produce live-stream reports of such events a Occupy Wall Street protests. The chopper can fly 50 feet high at 11 miles per hour and stay up for about 12 minutes before recharging. -db From Wired, January 6, 20112, by Sean Captain. Full story
MediaShift’s top media law stories for 2011 include journalists’ coverage of Occupy movements; the proposed online piracy legislation; net neutrality; coverage of live police actions; Righthaven and the “hot news” doctrine. -db From a commentary in MediaShift, December 23, 2011, by Rob Arcamona, Jeff Hermes and Andy Sellars. Full story
Tags: bloggers, cameras in court, First Amendment, fleeting expletives, hot news, internet copyright enforcement, net neutrality, Occupy movement, Righthaven, SOPA, wiretaping
Police entered the offices of Global Revolution that runs livestream on Occupy Wall Street and arrested six of its operators on Monday effectively shutting down the site which had aggregated livestreaming of Occupy Wall Street worldwide. The arrests were made because the six were living in the offices and refused to honor an order to [...]
The Anaheim City Attorney is investigating an e-mail sent by a planning department official ordering employees to purge unnecessary records at the risk of disciplinary action. The order came after the Voice of OC filed a California Public Records Act request for communications to and from city council members. -db From the Voice of OC, [...]
A federal district judge ordered the release of court records relating to a lawsuit brought by a hospital system alleging that another hospital group had conspired against them. The hospital system refused to release details of an agreement settling the case claiming that the information was confidential, containing vital business information about future plans. -db [...]
The British police are stepping up an investigation into who leaked over 1000 private e-mails by climate scientists in 2009. The leaked e-mails fueled public skepticism about global warming. From The New York Times, January 1, 2012, by Leslie Kaufman. Full story
There were four cases over the Freedom of Information Act that promoted transparency in 2011 according to the Electronic Freedom Foundation. The cases were Milner v. Department of Navy, FCC v. AT&T, Islamic Shura Council of S. Cal. v. FBI and National Day Laborer Organizing Network v. ICE. From a commentary for the Electronic Frontier [...]
Tags: ACLU, Citizens United, EFF, FCC v. AT&T, FOIA, FOIA Exemption 2, immigrants Secure Communities, Milner v. Navy, National Security, NDLON v. ICE, privacy rights, Shura Council v. FBI, surveillance, Wired
The quest for national security after 9/11 has resulted in a number of secret agencies, Congressional committees, courts and even laws argues the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU claims that these practices deprive lawmakers and the public of information needed to check abuses and to make policy. -db From a commentary for the American [...]
The Milford-Miami Advertiser must defend itself in court in a defamation claim over an article it ran that a police officer “had sex with a woman while on the job.” The reference was to allegations 13 years before a current sex scandal investigation. Even though he was fired for various other offenses, the officer said [...]
The Chicago Tribune is deciding its course of action after a federal judge ordered thier reporter to turn over notes and other document in the case of a juror who concealed her criminal record in the William Cellini trial. Cellini was convicted last month for attempted extortion. The Tribune suggested that the court should first [...]
The New York Times columnist Nick Kristof and his collegue were tear-gassed and taken into custody by Bahraini police during a protest in Sitra. The police said the detention was for Kristof’s own good. Kristof has been critical of the Bahraini government. -db From The Wrap, December 9, 2011, by Lucas Shaw. Full story
A recent poll showed that 72 percent of the public were in favor of allowing TV cameras into the U.S. Supreme Court hearings on the new health care law. C-Span has asked the court for permission to film the proceedings to give its audience live coverage. Several justices have voiced vehement opposition to allowing cameras [...]
A local newspaper said the courtroom rules for the ex-Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky’s hearing over his alleged rape and sexual abuse of children “may stun the national media.” The rules cover five pages. “It’s not California,” noted the Centre Daily Times. -db From a commentary in the Centre Daily Times, December 7, 2011. Full [...]
After Ben Bernanke of the Federal Reserve sent a letter to lawmakers criticizing Bloomberg News for “egregious errors” in a story on the bank bailout, Bloomberg responded with a detailed rebuttal of the key charges. Among other issues, the rebuttal addressed factual errors, disputes over transparency, and fairness in reporting. -db From Bloomberg News, December [...]
The Obama administration is still insisting that cables WikiLeaks released last year are classified even though the cables were released by the State Department in compliance with a Freedom of Information Act request. The classified information concerned targeted killings, detention at Guantanamo, torture and rendition. -db From a commentary for the American Civil Liberties Union, [...]
Tags: accountability, ACLU, censorship, CIA, FOIA, free press, free speech, Guantanomo, National Security, News Gathering, rendition, secrecy, State Department, transparency, Wikileaks
If Congress passes the Cameras in the Courtroom Act of 2011, the issue may ultimately wind up in the Supreme Court in a constitutional showdown. Several justices have expressed vehement opposition to allowing TV coverage of their proceedings, but many in Congress want the public to see the arguments on such crucial issues as constitutionality [...]
In a letter signed by Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, the Federal Reserve attacked Bloomberg News for making errors in stories about the bailout. Although the letter did not mention Bloomberg, it is clear that the letter addresses an article by a Bloomberg magazine last week on loans from the Fed to banks said to allow [...]
The president of the Society of Professional Journalists called for the end of the “alarming trend” of the arrests of journalists at Occupy demonstrations. John C. Ensslin said he covered the crime beat and that his brother was a police officer and so that he understands the difficult situations confonting police. He proposes that both [...]
A Lousiana state appeals court ruled that a reporter with KNOE-TV was not liable for the suicide of a blind man who allegedly committed a sexual assault against a blind student. The reporter had reported that the alleged crime was under investigation and named the accused. -db From the Courthouse News Service, December 6, 2011, [...]
A Sacramento lawyer found herself in court the same day arguing two sides of the First Amendment in two separate trials, in one to keep the press and public out of pretrail hearings in a sensational murder trial and the other to defend Occupy Sacramento protesters on free speech grounds. In both trials she was [...]
Medicare is making its database of claims available to the public to allow assessment of doctors. A court ruling has blocked access to this information for decades. Critics of the release warn that the data could be easily misinterpreted in assessing doctors. -db From KSPR (ABC), December 5, 201, by Joanna Small. Full story
In a case brought by the Los Angeles Times, the Pasadena Sun and the Sacramento Bee, a Sacramento Superior Court judge ordered the California Assembly to release budget records under the California Public Records Act. Lawyers for the Assembly did not participate in oral arguments before the judge last week. -db From the Los Angeles [...]
When the lawyers argue before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on the appeal of the striking down of Prop 8, the referendum prohibiting same-sex marriage, the proceedings will be videotaped and then televised. A federal district court had ruled Prop 8 unconstitutional for violating equal protection and due process rights. -db From the [...]
WikiLeaks released the first documents of a massive cache of documents from contractors involved in surveillance. To make the release, WikiLeaks worked with two other nonprofits and with the media including the Washington Post. WikiLeaks said surveillance companies were invading personal computers and cell phones. -db From Mashable, December 1, 2011, by Stan Schroeder. Full [...]
The Courthouse News Service lost a round in court when a federal judge refused to hear a case over a court clerk’s delay in providing access to new civil actions. Courthouse News contended that the delays violated their free press rights in that by the time they received access, the cases were old news. The [...]
The Tennessee judge presiding over the lawsuit over the return of an adopted 9-year-old boy to Russia ruled that the court documents be unsealed. A court memo indicated that there were no facts presented to justify sealing the case and that the 9-year-old was living in Russia far from the harsh light of publicity about [...]
Tags: access to courts, Access to Records, adoption, closed courtrooms, confidentiality, international adoptions, juveniles, News Gathering, open records, privacy, Russia, sealed records, secret courts
The Los Angeles Unified School District is thwarting the public’s right to know how teachers rated in value-added evaluations saying that the disclosures would be “embarrassing and painful” to teachers. Parents have the right to know how students are faring under their teachers argues Jim Newton in an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times. -db [...]
The California Supreme Court will hear arguments on whether Stephen Glass, formerly of The New Republic, is fit to be admitted to the State Bar. Glass’ articles were widely acclaimed before it became clear that 27 of his 41 stories contained fabrications. -db From The Recorder, November 17, 2011, by Cheryl Miller. Full story
WikiLeaks has changed the face of journalism and contributed more scoops this year than any other media outlet, reports Trevor Timm in a commentary for the Electronic Frontier Foundation. In using the Espionage Act to prosecute WikiLeaks, the federal government poses a real threat to the mainsream media and the First Amendment, argues Timm. -db [...]
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