Category
News Gathering
Coronavirus

White House Orders Federal Health Agency To Put Lid on High-Level Coronavirus Discussions

The officials, who wished to remain anonymous, told Reuters that documented exchanges between health officials about “the scope of infections, quarantines and travel restrictions” have been removed from public record and placed in a “high-security meeting room” at the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS). 

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Liberty Bell Philadelphia

Federal Judge Says Philadelphia Municipal Court’s Rules Violate the First Amendment

“Not all documentation is reasonable,” Nicolas Riley, one of the plaintiff's attorneys, said, noting that most people could see why an 18-person camera crew might be disruptive. “The problem here was that the court had made it impossible to get down what happened during bail hearings.”

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Drone

Texas’s Drone Law Hinders Paper’s Effort to Document Public Health Issue

A newspaper’s recent attempt to report on air pollution caused by cattle feedlots was temporarily thwarted due to the state’s restrictions on drone usage.

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Amr Alfiky

New York Police Arrest Journalist While Recording Another Man’s Arrest

“I am a journalist! I am a journalist” the video shows Alfiky yelling. Alfiky also offered to show his press pass and insisted that he did not refuse their orders.

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Senate Imposes Unusually Strict Rules for Journalists Ahead of Impeachment Trial

A letter sent to Senate leadership on Tuesday said the restrctions "exceeded those put in place during the State of the Union, Inauguration Day, or even during the Clinton impeachment trial 20 years ago."

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Appeals Court Considers Massachusetts’ Law Against Secretly Recording Police

The ACLU of Massachusetts says that the law, which was originally written to protect citizens from government surveillance, is now used to punish people for exercising their First Amendment right to gather information about public officials.

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Farm Pigs Iowa

Federal Judge Says Iowa Can’t Enforce Its Newest Ag-Gag Law

The newest law is the state’s second attempt to stop journalists and activists from going undercover to report on meat processing plants, livestock facilities, and puppy mills. An older version of the bill was struck down as unconstitutional in January.

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Matthew Albence ICE

ACLU Sues Trump Administration Over Hostile Treatment of Journalists At Border

The civil liberties groups brought the case on behalf of five photojournalists who traveled to Mexico last year to document migrants' efforts to reach the U.S.-Mexico border. In addition to lengthy interrogation, some of the journalists say border officers compelled them to disclose photographs and notes they had taken as part of their reporting. 

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