Journalism
Trump's Actions Contradict His Avowed Commitment to First Amendment Rights
The president has launched a multifaceted crusade against speech that offends him.
Treating Journalism As Consumer Fraud, Trump Claims Coverage of a Presidential Poll Was Not 'News Reporting'
The president's lawyers also conflate fraud with defamation, misconstrue the commercial speech doctrine, and assert that false speech is not constitutionally protected.
On Remand, the 5th Circuit Again Blocks a Lawsuit by a Texas Reporter Arrested for Newsgathering
Even if Laredo cops punished Priscilla Villarreal for constitutionally protected speech, the appeals court says, they would be protected by qualified immunity.
Brown University Targets Student Journalist for Emailing Administrators
Brown is violating its code of conduct, which guarantees community members’ right to petition the university.
Trump's War on the Press
The president is arguing in court that journalism he doesn't like is "election interference" that constitutes consumer fraud.
It's Not Journalists' Job To Protect Government Secrets
With the controversy over the leaked White House group chat, mainstream media have been treating secrecy as a virtue and disclosure as a vice. That’s a dangerous game.
The Atlantic Should Not Find Out About a War Before Congress Does
The White House accidentally leaked military plans in Yemen to a journalist—and demonstrated how unconstitutional U.S. war making has become.
The FCC's Show Trial Against CBS Is a Political Power Play
The commission’s partisan “news distortion” probe is trampling the First Amendment to pressure the press.
Trump Is Targeting Media and Chilling Free Speech
The president campaigned on a promise to defend the First Amendment, but he's now attacking free speech through a variety of disreputable strategies.
Trump Tries To Carve Out a First Amendment Exception for 'Fake News'
The president's portrayal of journalism he does not like as consumer fraud is legally frivolous and blatantly unconstitutional.
CBS Is Wrong About Free Speech in Germany and the Rise of Nazism
Margaret Brennan should immediately Google the Weimar Fallacy.
Trump's White House Says 'Gulf of Mexico' Is Misinformation
Misinformation concept creep is getting out of hand.
Trump Is Flat-Out Lying About the 60 Minutes Interview With Harris
The full transcript shows the president's complaints about the editing of the interview are not just wildly hyperbolic and legally groundless. They are demonstrably false.
USAID Paying for Politico Is a Nontroversy
There are many legitimate criticisms of both USAID and Politico; this is not one of them.
FBI Nominee Kash Patel, Who Vowed To 'Come After' Trump's Enemies, Disclaims 'Retributive Actions'
At his confirmation hearing, the president's pick to run the nation's leading law enforcement agency ran away from his record as a MAGA zealot.
Why Is Paramount So Keen To Settle Trump's Laughable Lawsuit Against CBS?
The company is worried that the president's complaints about a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris could block a pending merger.
Decrying First Amendment Threat, FIRE Will Defend Pollster Whom Trump Sued for 'Consumer Fraud'
The president-elect frivolously claims that J. Ann Selzer and The Des Moines Register owe him damages because of an erroneous preelection poll.
Trump Mounts a 'Direct Assault on the First Amendment' by Portraying Journalism As Consumer Fraud
The president-elect's lawsuit against The Des Moines Register is a patently frivolous and constitutionally dubious attempt to intimidate the press.
CNN Presented a Syrian Jailer as a Torture Survivor
The fiasco around the “Syrian prisoner” filmed by CNN demonstrates that sometimes institutions aren’t the best judges of misinformation.
Given George Stephanopoulos' Carelessness, ABC's Defamation Settlement With Trump Seems Prudent
The host of This Week repeatedly and inaccurately asserted that Trump had been "found liable for rape."
El Salvador's New Cybersecurity Laws Raise Concerns Over Media Freedom
Proponents call it modernization, but watchdogs see a path to censorship.
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When Deciding Whether To Investigate His Opponents, Trump Says, He Will Defer to 'Very Fair' Kash Patel
Trump's pick to run the FBI has a long list of enemies he plans to "come after," with the legal details to be determined later.
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Kash Patel's Threats Against Journalists Make Him an Alarming Choice To Run the FBI
"We're gonna come after the people in the media," the Trump stalwart warns. "Whether it's criminally or civilly, we'll figure that out."
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Incoming FCC Chairman Brendan Carr's Beef With NewsGuard Is Legally Dubious and Empirically Shaky
The company, which says it takes an "apolitical approach" to rating news outlets, faces regulatory threats and a congressional probe because of its perceived bias against conservatives.
Cable News Is Over
What comes next will be more fragmented, more decentralized, and more authentic than the old legacy networks.
How Scientific American's Departing Editor Helped Degrade Science
When magazines like Scientific American are run by ideologues producing biased dreck, it only makes it more difficult to defend the institution of science itself.
Trump's Legal Complaints Against 2 News Outlets Reflect His Disregard for Freedom of the Press
The Republican presidential candidate argues that CBS and The Washington Post broke the law by covering the election in ways he did not like.
Citizen Journalism Is Under Attack. This Texas Woman Is Fighting to Save It.
After being arrested for doing journalism, Priscilla Villarreal has taken her fight to the courts.
Trump's Critics Keep Undermining Their Case by Lying About Stuff He Supposedly Said
Trump criticized Liz Cheney's interventionism. He did not say she should "go before a firing squad."
The Story About THC-Laced Halloween Candy Shifts From Malevolent Strangers to Careless Parents
The change in official warnings and news coverage reflects the dearth of evidence that malicious pranksters are trying to dose trick-or-treaters.
How the Feds Destroyed Backpage.com and Its Founders
By prosecuting the website's founders, the government chilled free speech online and ruined lives.
Trump Thinks News Outlets Should Lose Their Broadcast Licenses, Even When They Have None
Despite his cluelessness, the former president's inclination to punish constitutionally protected speech reflects his authoritarian disregard for civil liberties.
No, Trump Did Not Endorse a Military Assault on People 'Simply Because They Oppose His Candidacy'
The former president's authoritarian tendencies are alarming enough without inventing new outrages.
This Reporter Was Arrested for Asking Questions. The Supreme Court Just Revived Her Lawsuit.
Priscilla Villarreal's case is about whether certain reporters have more robust free speech rights than others.
Can Differences in 'Misinformation' Sharing Explain Political Disparities in Social Media Suspensions?
A new study finds that conservatives are especially likely to share information from sources that a "politically balanced" sample of Republicans and Democrats deemed untrustworthy.
CBS Needs a Safe Space for Tony Dokoupil's Critics
Despite the outrage from woke staffers, Ta-Nehisi Coates is hardly upset about the interview.
Oklahoma's Push for Bibles in Schools Comes With a Trump-Sized Price Tag
Ryan Walters' strict stipulations make it clear he’s steering Oklahoma schools to purchase Donald Trump’s Bibles at a hefty cost.
Ford Fischer: What's the Untold Story Behind 'Stop the Steal'?
Documentarian Ford Fischer discusses his experience covering the "Stop the Steal" movement, January 6, and what it all means for the future of journalism and democracy.
Citizen Journalist Barred From Press Conference Can Sue Texas Sheriff for Violating His Rights, Judge Rules
The decision is a reminder that independent reporters are still protected by the same First Amendment as journalists in legacy media.
More Vance Than Anyone Could Ever Need
Plus: Long live Eric Adams, Electoral College bias, and more...
