Category: Access & Censorship

Journalists Covering the 2021 Inauguration Urge Officials to Allow Them to Wear Protective Equipment

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (RCFP), National Press Photographers Association (NPPA), New York Times, and Washington Post are urging

“We heard through the Reporters Committee’s hotline that one photojournalist wore a bulletproof vest that prevented her from getting injured when she was stabbed by one of the members of the mob,” the letter reads. “Accordingly, we request that credentialed journalists covering the 2021 inauguration be allowed to carry this life-saving gear, at least outside the most secured area where the inauguration will occur.”

Reporters covering the Capitol attack were used to harassment and heckling. But Wednesday was different. - Poynter

Rioters spat at reporters and hurled slurs. They chased journalists down and destroyed their gear. Some physically assaulted media workers.

When Trump took the stage Wednesday at his “Save America” rally, he started his speech with a rant against the media, calling it “the biggest problem we have as far as I’m concerned — single biggest problem” and falsely claiming “fake news” had stolen the election. Hours later, some of his supporters had taken his message to heart and went after the media members who they saw as responsible for Trump’s loss in the 2020 election.

Covering Pro-Trump Mobs, the News Media Became a Target

“Murder the media” was scratched into a door of the Capitol. Violent protesters smashed equipment and punched a photographer.

As Trump supporters rampaged on Wednesday, incited by the president’s false claims of a stolen election, they hit on a secondary target: journalists.

Protests Erupt in France Over Proposal to Limit Publication of Images of Police

Protests have erupted across France over a proposed security law that would greatly limit the publication of images of police officers. The controversial

The controversial Article 24 in the new Global Security Bill pushed by French President Emmanuel Macron’s government and police unions would make it illegal to publish images of police officers with the intent to cause them harm. Offenders would face up to a year in jail and a fine of €45,000 (~$53,000).

Protection of who? - Thoughts of a Bohemian

A new law restricting what can be photographed is threatening the fabric of French democracy. It might snowball into other countries..

Proscribing the photographing of people in public places, the depiction of the consequence of violent attacks, and the recording of abuse of power is dramatically limiting citizens’ access to information—the type of information needed to have a healthy democracy. If similar laws were considered in countries with an established fascist regime, it would not surprise anyone.  They all start by suppressing access to information.

Million MAGA March: Unravelling a Violent Viral Video - bellingcat

A video showing left-wing protesters attacking a right-wing activist spread across social media after the "Million MAGA March" in Washington DC. But did it tell the whole story?

While the daytime rally included several skirmishes, the number of violent incidents escalated significantly after sunset. There is ample evidence of violence from pro-Trump demonstrators. One assaulted freelance journalist Talia Jane, while a Proud Boy was filmed punching a French photographer in the face. At one point, a large group of Proud Boys and Trump supporters charged at counter-protesters en masse. To be clear, there was also evidence of assaults by left-wing demonstrators, as later highlighted by Trump. But the President’s framing of events erased the violence of his own supporters and painted a misleading, one-sided account.

Exposing Rodrigo Duterte's War on the Free Press

Director Ramona Diaz and journalist Maria Ressa discuss their struggles to make A Thousand Cuts, a film about the autocratic president of the Philippines.

“It all goes back to Silicon Valley,” Ressa adds. A Thousand Cuts follows the Philippines 2019 legislative elections, when for the first time in 80 years, the opposition failed to secure even a single seat. It illuminates the Duterte government’s use of propaganda and social media to lie to their citizens, obscuring what many of them know to be the truth. This “post-truth” reality is one many people are now far too familiar with, even outside the Philippines. “When Facebook sells our most vulnerable data to the highest bidder, we no more have facts to hold each other accountable by. Accountability from the tech companies is a prerequisite to claim our democracies back. You do not have democracy if you don’t have facts,” Ressa asserts. In one scene, Duterte tells a Rappler journalist, “You will be allowed to criticize us. But you will go to jail for your crimes.” I was immediately reminded of the likes of Gauri Lankesh and Vikram Joshi, journalists back home in India who were murdered for speaking out against the country’s Hindu nationalist government.

Missing Photojournalist Austin Tice, Tops July Ranking Of One Free Press Coalition’s “10 Most Urgent” Press Freedom Cases Press Freedom Cases

The One Free Press Coalition Publishes its “10 Most Urgent” List.

NEW YORK – Aug. 3, 2020 – Freelance photojournalist Austin Tice, who went missing in 2012 while reporting on the civil war in Syria, tops the August ranking of the One Free Press Coalition’s “10 Most Urgent” list of press freedom cases. The “10 Most Urgent” list, issued today by a united group of pre-eminent editors and publishers, spotlights journalists whose press freedoms are being suppressed or whose cases are seeking justice.

Power, Consent, and Obligations in Photography

One of photography’s most important problems is the power imbalance between someone operating a camera and someone finding her or himself in front of it. Unless there is an actual collaboration going on, it is the photographer whose decisions result in what the subject looks like in the picture(s). I used “actual” in front of “collaboration” on purpose: unlike many other people, I do not think that having some chit chat with a subject makes for a collaboration. A collaboration would be a joint making of the picture, in which photographer and subject talk about how the subject wants to be portrayed, what the photographers sees in her or him, etc.

The attacks on press freedom in Portland

This week Dave Miller, who hosts a daily talk show on Oregon Public Broadcasting, interviewed “two very tired people”: Tuck Woodstock and Sergio Olmos, both independent journalists. Since late May, daily protests in solidarity with Black lives and agai

THIS WEEK DAVE MILLER, who hosts a daily talk show on Oregon Public Broadcasting, interviewed “two very tired people”: Tuck Woodstock and Sergio Olmos, both independent journalists. Since late May, daily protests in solidarity with Black lives and against police brutality have taken place in Portland. Local outlets have often sent reporters, but not to cover every protest; mainstream national outlets mostly ignored Portland until last week, when OPB reported that federal agents in unmarked vehicles were snatching protesters off the streets. By contrast, freelancers like Woodstock and Olmos have been out night after night, documenting the scene.

A Seattle judge ruled 5 news outlets, including The Seattle Times, must give photos and video of protests to police - Poynter

A legal expert said the ruling creates a 'troubling precedent' that could make news media unwelcome at future protests.

A Seattle judge ruled Friday five news outlets must turn over unreleased photos and videos from a late May protest to local law enforcement. The Seattle Police Department believes the raw footage would help solve an ongoing arson and theft investigation, but First Amendment lawyers believe the ruling is troubling.