Free speech: Supreme Court reaffirms ban on death row interviews

The Supreme Court will not hear the case of a death row inmate who claimed his First Amendment rights were violated by a federal policy that banned interviews with death row inmates. -db
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
March 8, 2010
By Curry Andrews
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday said it would not hear the [...]

Journalist appeals denial of mug shot of federal fugitive

A freelance journalist is appealing a federal court ruling that the U.S. Marshals Service could deny a Freedom of Information Act request for a mug shot of securities fraud fugitive, Luis Giro. -db

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
March 3, 2010
By Curry Andrew

A freelance journalist has asked a federal appeals court to consider whether [...]

New York City considers press credentials for bloggers

Mayor Michael Bloomberg wants to allow online journalists and bloggers press credentials. The proposal comes in the wake of a lawsuit filed by three bloggers denied access to city events. -db

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
March 3, 2010
By Christine Beckett
New York City and Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced a new policy that would allow [...]

Theft of student newspapers under investigation at California state university

The latest issue of California State University Northridge’s Daily Sundial contained a column asking fraternities and sororities to host more fundraisers for public causes. Someone at the  university responded by stealing more than 2,000 copies of the newspaper from newsstands. -db

Student Press Law Center
March 1, 2010
By Laura Dobler
Police at California State University – Northridge are investigating [...]

California: Child welfare agencies stonewalling on children who died on their watch

The California Newspaper Publishers Association may sponsor revisions to current law requiring disclosure of children’s deaths to address the growing trend among state and county child welfare agencies to withhold information. -db

California Newspaper Publishers Association
February 22, 2010
There is a growing trend among the state and at least one county child welfare agency to withhold information [...]

Arab media showing positive gains

A recent study of the news media in 15 Arab countries shows in spite of economic downturn growth in audience and numbers of publications as well as signs of vigor and creativity. -db

Secrecy News
Federation of American Scientists
March 1, 2010
By Steven Aftergood

A study (pdf) of the news media in 15 Arab countries shows some new signs of [...]

Scholastic free press: Parents object to student sex poll

A California institute is challenging the administration of Ventura High School for allowing students to complete the questions of a campus sex survey without parent permission. Reporters from the student newspaper had conducted the survey on campus but outside the classroom. -db
Ventura County Star
February 23, 2010
By Marjorie Hernandez
Pacific Justice Institute officials said Tuesday that [...]

Huffington Post establishes college newspaper forum

College journalists will see their work on a national forum as The Huffington Post begins its college-focused section on its Web site on February 22. -db

Student Press Law Center
February 19, 2010
By Laura Dobler

NEW YORK, NY — On Monday, college journalists across the country will have a new opportunity for their work to be seen by [...]

Feisty Berkeley newspaper goes exclusively online

Citing among other things advertising woes, the bad economy and a campaign by pro-Israel “zealots”, the owner of the Berkeley Daily Planet announced it would shut down its print edition to become a Web-only publication. -db
The San Francisco Chronicle
February 12, 2010
By Matthai Kuruvila
The Berkeley Daily Planet, a weekly newspaper with an often-irascible and campaigning style [...]

Pennsyvania court fires on local agency for withholding names of Homeland Security contractors

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review will have access to the identities of contractors who supplied first responder equipment to local agencies. In making the records public, the commonwealth court said it found no reasonable public safety argument in favor of withholding the names. -db

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
February 11, 2010
By Cristina Abello

A Pennsylvania agency [...]

Massachusetts Supreme Court rules that the state’s anti-SLAPP law does not protect journalists

An ACLU lawyer argues that the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court erred in ruling that journalists are not protected by the state’s anti-SLAPP law owing to their role in reporting objectively.  The ruling ignores the role of the reporter in petitioning on behalf of the community. -db
Media Nation
Opinion
February 1, 2010
By Sarah Wunsch

Despite our amicus brief [...]

Media legal group joins freedom of information organization to support online reporters

The Online Media Legal Network of the Citizen Media Law Project is joining with the National Freedom of Information Coalition to help reporters with government information requests and FOIA lawsuits. -db
Citizens Media Law Project
Press Release
February 1, 2010
The Citizen Media Law Project is pleased to announce that its Online Media Legal Network (OMLN) is partnering [...]

Report says there is strong precedent for government support of newspapers

A report from the University of Southern California says that American newspapers have always relied on government subsidies, but over the last 40 years that support has shrunk. -db
The New York Times
January 28, 2010
By Richard Pérez-Peña
American newspapers have relied on government subsidies since Washington’s day, but that support has dropped sharply in the last four [...]

Federal court rules that newspaper owner’s First Amendment rights trump employee’s job rights

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a Santa Barbara News-Press did not have to rehire employees fired for union activity to pressure the owner and publisher from controlling the editorial content of the newspaper. -DB
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
January 27, 2010
By Steven M. Ellis
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday declined to force a Santa [...]

Nevada student newspaper in First Amendment dispute

A student journalist’s coverage of controversy over an honor choir program prompts an attempt by the teachers union to block publication of the campus newspaper. – dr
Las Vegas Review-Journal
January 28, 2010
By Kristi Jourdan
What began as an investigative article in a Northern Nevada high school newspaper has turned into a First Amendment issue for [...]

Prop 8 hearing: Strict enforcement of laws against assault needed rather than curtailing TV coverage

A Citizen Media Law Project blogger argues that the Supreme Court should recognize that it is against California law to assault witnesses and that not televising the proceedings will not protect witnesses in what promises to be a widely publicized event. To allow the broadcast on YouTube would provide a boost to freedom of the [...]

Coalition files amicus brief supporting Northwestern University students with records under subpoena

A friend-of-the-court brief has been filed in support of Northwestern University journalism students working on a project seeking to prove the innocence of convicts under sentence for murder. The State Attorney is seeking their notes, interview tapes and other records to discredit their work on the project. -DB

Student Press Law Center
Press Release
January 11, 2010
The Student [...]

Canadian Supreme Court creates new defense for reporters facing libel charges

The Canadian Supreme Court made it more difficult to sue for libel last month when it made two rulings that allow reporters to cover controversial stories aggressively so long as the stories are considered worthy of public interest. -DB

The Canadian Press
December 22, 2009
By Mike Blanchfield
OTTAWA — The Supreme Court of Canada offered journalists and [...]

TSA backs off of subpoena to blogger publishing new airport security directive

After a blogger refused to surrender records of his posting of the new government airport security directive, the Transportation Security Administration changed course and withdrew the subpoena for the records. The blogger had objected to the lack of time to comply and that as a journalist he would be required to reveal his sources. -DB

Electronic [...]

Two journalist groups want Supreme Court to clarify lower court ruling on publicity rights

Two organizations representing the interests of journalists have asked the Supreme Court to rule that right-of-publicity claims should not apply to photographs that are newsworthy. -DB
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
December 31, 2009
By Amanda Becker
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and the Society for Professional Journalists have filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf [...]

TSA puts heat on blogger posting new screening procedures

Armed agents from the Transportation Security Administration visited two bloggers in their homes with subpoenas, seeking the identity of the source who provided a document revising screening procedures for airports after the recent aborted bombing attempt by a Nigerian man. -DB

Wired
Threat Level
December 30, 2009
By Kim Zetter

Two bloggers received home visits from Transportation Security Administration agents [...]

Ad charging bank crime refused by Nigerian press in alleged payoff

A Brooklyn lawyer says when he tried to run an ad in Nigeria’s “The Nation” charging a bank made its female employees offer sex to attract investors, the publication refused his ad saying it had accepted a payoff from the bank. -DB
Courthouse News Service
December 17, 2009
By Adam Klasfeld
BROOKLYN (NY) – A Brooklyn lawyer says [...]

U.S. needs federal shield law

The Senate should move forward on a federal shield law for reporters writes an ACLU blogger because such a law strengthens democracy by allowing journalists to reveal government malfeasance without fear of going to jail. -DB

American Civil Liberties Union
Opinion
December 2, 2009
By Sandra Fulton

Most people don’t realize that the American government is in the habit of [...]

News media asks Supreme Court to review rules prohibiting death row interviews

Twenty-three news organizations have asked the Supreme Court to review federal rules prohibiting in-person interviews that block inmates from informing the press of treatment and conditions. -DB

Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press

Press Release
November 25, 2009
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press today filed a friend-of-the-court brief asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review [...]

Community forum in jeopardy over charges of anti-Semitism

The independent newspaper, the Berkeley Daily Planet, is fighting for its life as critics charge that too much of its content, letters and articles, is critical of Israel. The critics are encouraging advertisers to withdraw their ads from the Daily Planet and also maintain a Web site criticizing the newspaper for what they say is [...]

A Patent on Podcasting? EFF thinks not

The Patent Office just granted  Volomedia exclusive rights to  “a method for providing episodic media,” creating a very real threat to the future of free podcasting.  You can help  EEF’s Patent-Busting Project crack the case.
EFF’s DeepLinks Blog
EFF Tackles Bogus Podcasting Patent – And We Need Your Help
News Update by Rebecca Jeschke
Patenting podcasting? You’ve got to [...]

Two Germans sue Wikipedia for violation of privacy

In a case pitting German privacy law against the U.S. First Amendment, two Germans convicted of murdering an actor in 1990 are suing Wikipedia for posting their names online, an act that they claim violates their privacy now that they have served their time and are out of prison. -DB

The New York Times
November 12, 2009
By John [...]

First Amendment advocate criticizes prosecutor’s subpoena of personal records in Innocence Project

Gene Policinski of the First Amendment Center says Chicago’s Cook County investigation of Medill ‘Innocence Project’ could chill students’ reporting, and time spent on the investigation would be better spent investigating the evidence presented by the students that a man was wrongly convicted of murder. -DB
First Amendment Center
Commentary
November 15, 2009
By Gene Policinski

A scene in the 1987 [...]

Cook County prosecutors claim Innocence Project journalism students paid witness to make a case

Prosecutors looking into the conduct of student journalists investigating a murder conviction for Northwestern University’s Innocence Project say they  subpoenaed students’ grades, e-mail messages and records because they believed students paid a witness to achieve a result supporting innocence. -DB

The New York Times
November 10, 2009
By Emma Graves Fitzsimmons
CHICAGO — Prosecutors on Tuesday accused former [...]

Press association says free speech under attack by populist regimes in Latin America

Populist leaders in Latin America have been looking the other way while their supporters have attacked newsrooms, broadcasting stations and printing plants, one of the many tactics used to silence critics in the media. Eight Mexican journalists have been killed over the last six months. -DB

WW4 Report
November 8, 2009
Populist leaders in Latin America increasingly [...]

Newspaper claims constitutional protection in withholding jailhouse interview notes from county attorney

A Kansas county prosecutor has issued a subpoena to the Dodge City Daily Globe and reporter Claire O’Brien to obtain her notes, testimony and the identity of an anonymous source concerning a Labor Day shooting that left one man dead. The prosecutor says he is trying to obtain the information from other sources so O’Brien and [...]

Federal judge closes hearings to public in trial of Blackwater security guards charged with manslaughter in Iraq

A U.S. district judge closed the Blackwater manslaughter pretrial hearings to the public, he said, to enable a fair trial by shielding witnesses and potential jurors from a flurry of media reports. -DB

The Washington Post
October 15, 2009
By Del Quentin Wilber
A federal judge blocked the public Wednesday from attending a critical set of pretrial hearings in [...]

Tech companies can help publishers charge for online content

The big tech companies including Google and Microsoft can easily provide publishers with ways to charge readers for news online.It is more difficult to get the publishers to stop providing news for free. -DB
San Francisco Chronicle
September 11, 2009
By Andrew Vanacore

(09-11) 04:15 PDT NEW YORK, (AP) — Some of the world’s most prominent technology companies are [...]

Puerto Rico: ACLU appeals ruling that FBI not responsible for attacking reporters

Although a federal court found the FBI agents’ attack on several journalists unconstitutional, they found that the agents could not be held responsible for their actions. -DB
American Civil Liberties Union
Press Release
September 10, 2009
SAN JUAN, PR – The American Civil Liberties Union today filed an appeal of a federal court ruling that found that, even though there [...]

Press freedom under fire in Latin America

In recent months journalists have suffered setbacks in Ecuador, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Colombia, Bolivia, Brazil and Argentina as courts and leaders move to restrict coverage and demonize the press. -DB
The New York Times
August 31, 2009
By Alexei Barrionuevo
RIO DE JANEIRO — For the family of José Sarney, Brazil’s Senate president, the daily onslaught of newspaper reports about nepotism [...]

Venezuelan president clamping down on media

A United States unclassified intelligence report says that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is aggressively silencing his media critics, including bloggers. He has proposed a law that would make it a crime to report on anything the government finds objectionable.  -DB
Open Source Center
Analysis
August 3, 2009
President Chavez’s government is moving forcefully to silence critics by introducing a Media Crimes [...]