Press freedom award goes to college newspaper in Southern California

The Sun of Southwestern College in Chula Vista, California has been awarded the 2011 College Press Freedom Award from the Student Press Law Center and the Associated Collegiate Press. The editors and staff continued to publish The Sun as the administration ordered it shut down. “The administrators of Southwestern College threw everything they had at [...]

Boxer shorts tweet: Embattled congressman wrong to suggest press should not ask hard questions

Because Democratic Rep Anthony Weiner has equivocated in answering questions about a tweet of himself in his shorts that he allegedly sent to woman in Washington state, he can expect hard questions from reporters seeking to clarify the issue, writes Brian J. Buchanan for the First Amendment Center. Weiner called a CNN journalist a jackass [...]

Opinion: Newspaper critical of White House should be included in press pool

First Amendment Center’s Gene Policinski says the White House should honor the spirit of the First Amendment and not make decisions on what news outlet is included in the press pool covering the president’s appearances based on how “regularly and fairly” an outlet reporta on the president. The conservative Boston Herald was not included in [...]

Columnist sees hope on World Press Freedom Day

An expert on press freedom argues that in spite of the widely publicized killing, torturings and jailings of reporters throughout the world, the good guys are winning. Authoritarian regimes are fighting a losing battle to control the news. Hoffman says, “They might as well be trying to grasp water with their fists.” The increase in [...]

West Covina High School drops plan to replace newspaper adviser

After student journalism student protests and a board vote of 3-2 to ask the principal to reconsider his position, the principal reinstated the adviser of the school newspaper, the Newsbytes. Students felt the move to oust the adviser came after Newsbytes published controversial comments by the district superintendent. -db Student Press Law Center September 9, [...]

California assembly passes law restricting reckless driving paparazzi

A Deadline Hollywood columnist writes that notwithstanding the California legislature’s newly passed law imposing criminal penalties on paparazzi for driving recklessly, editors and the public are responsible for the excesses. -db Deadline Hollywood Commentary August 31, 2010 By Nikki Finke The California Assembly today passed AB 2479 by a margin of 43-13 to impose penalties [...]

President signs law to protect journalists worldwide

President Barack Obama signed a law to monitor press freedom around the world and identify countries where journalists are killed, imprisoned or subject to censorship. The law is named after Daniel Pearl, an American journalist murdered in Pakistan in 2002. -db Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press May 17, 2010 By Brian Westley President [...]

Report says press freedom eroding with shift to online media

A report in CQ Researcher says that with no way established to charge for online news content, there is less money to spend accessing courts, public records and public meetings. -db The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press February 9, 2010 By Cristina Abello As newspaper circulations drop and nightly news broadcasts garner fewer [...]