Every week, it seems, we are writing about an increasingly pervasive threat to press freedom.
The attacks on journalism, and on truth itself, are relentless in America and far too many corners of the world, from Gaza to Russia. Today the pace continued with the arrest of American journalist Don Lemon, a former CNN host who now works as an independent journalist, and independent Minnesota journalist, Georgia Fort, in connection with his presence in a Minneapolis church during an anti-ICE protest that disrupted a service there led by an ICE agent.
Abbe Lowell, Lemon’s attorney, said he was arrested by federal authorities last night in Los Angeles, where he was preparing to cover this weekend’s Grammy Awards.
“Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done,” Lowell said in a statement. “The First Amendment exists to protect journalists whose role it is to shine light on the truth and hold those in power accountable. There is no more important time for people like Don to be doing this work.”
Lowell criticized the Justice Department for its focus on arresting Lemon instead of investigating the federal agents who killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota earlier this month, calling it “the real indictment of wrongdoing in this case.”
The case against Lemon was echoing through the field of journalism from coast to coast. In New York, Mitra Kalita, the pioneering founder of URL Media, an incredible organization that uplifts “Black and Brown newsrooms, audiences, and journalists nationwide,” including migrant communities, issued a statement:
“Reporting the facts, shining a light on the truth, and most importantly, holding the powerful accountable is not a crime — it’s a constitutionally protected right that we have as journalists, publishers, and newsrooms. The First Amendment is clear: The work we do as journalists is not only protected, but plays a critical role in our society.”
Last week, the International Press Institute (IPI) weighed in by highlighting attacks on a free press through three recent events that range from defending a great old newspaper in Pittsburgh to fighting for coverage by Radio Free Asia that has served in so many countries struggling to establish a democracy.
Recently marking its 75th anniversary, IPI has long been on the frontlines of defending press freedoms. It defines itself as “a global network of editors, media executives and leading journalists who share a common dedication to quality, independent journalism. Together, we promote the conditions that allow journalism to fulfill its public function, the most important of which is the media’s ability to operate free from interference and without fear of retaliation.”
In a resolution adopted at its Jan. 23 meeting in Washington, D.C, the IPI North American Committee, where I serve on the board, expressed concern over three recent events that threaten free speech in the U.S. The resolution read as follows:
“The decision of Block Communications Inc. to cease publication of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, leaving a significant hole in the news landscape of western Pennsylvania. We call for urgent efforts to secure new funding and business models to keep the historic Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper alive.
The Pentagon’s decision to take direct control of Stars and Stripes, turning the formerly independent 165-year-old newspaper serving the U.S. military into a de facto propaganda arm of the Department of Defense. Along with the Trump Administration’s decisions to hamper and eviscerate publicly funded broadcasters overseen by the U.S. Agency for Government Media, including the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks, the administration action shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the importance of independence for media to serve as a trusted source of news for its audience.
The unusual and highly aggressive search and seizure of electronic devices from the home of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natansan on Jan. 14 in a purported investigation of one of her sources, a government contractor. The search bore hallmarks of a fishing expedition to acquire information on all of Natanson’s sources in order to suppress criticism of the administration and raised profound concerns for the protection of sources and whistleblowers from government overreach.
The North American Committee calls on all government and elected officials to respect the traditions of media freedom enshrined in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution as a bulwark of American liberty, and it urges renewed public support for fact-based independent journalism to help maintain a well-informed and healthy democracy in the United States.”
I’m proud to serve on the committee and honored to be part of the chorus of voices signing on to this resolution. We are all going to have to find every way we can to raise our voice against the creeping and dangerous threat to our press freedoms that is unfolding in distant corners of the world and right here at home.
Related:
- Remembering John Forté, and why you should know about this gifted musician’s life journey
- ‘We the people’ have a lot of work to do
Ask us! What questions do you have about content, strategy, pop culture, lifestyle, wellness, history or more? We may use your question in an upcoming article!
Like MediaFeed’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article originally appeared on Charlessennott.substack.com and was syndicated by MediaFeed.org
