President Biden Should Pardon D.M. Bennett
Issuing a posthumous pardon for Bennett would reaffirm our nation’s commitment to free expression and intellectual freedom.
Journalism
The 'Bombshell' Secret Alito Recording Was Not a Bombshell
The justice's benign comments set off a lengthy news cycle and have been treated as a scandal by some in the media. Why?
Laurence Tribe Bizarrely Claims Trump Won the 2016 Election by Falsifying Business Records in 2017
That take on the former president's New York conviction echoes similarly puzzling claims by many people who should know better.
When a North Carolina Colonel Shot This Utility Worker, Journalists Suggested His Victim Was a Spy
The reaction to Ramzan Daraev’s death is an extreme example of anti-immigrant panic and national security paranoia.
News Publishers Try To Sic the Government on Google AI
A journalism industry trade group is asking the federal government to thwart a tech tool that could make news publishing less profitable.
These Strange Bedfellows Want SCOTUS To Remind the 5th Circuit That Journalism Is Not a Crime
An ideologically diverse mix of individuals and organizations supports a Texas journalist who was arrested for asking questions.
Rethinking the 5-Paragraph Essay in the Age of AI
Artificial intelligence writes a pretty good analysis of George Orwell's 1984.
This Journalist Was Arrested, Strip-Searched, and Jailed for Filming Police. Will He Get Justice?
Justin Pulliam's arrest and lawsuit once again demand we ask if "real" journalists are entitled to a different set of rights.
Super Size Me Was Not Groundbreaking Journalism
Morgan Spurlock's death and legacy are a reminder that skepticism is a necessary part of any balanced diet.
End the Assange Indictment Charade
As the U.K. High Court allows a new appeal for Julian Assange, pressure mounts on Joe Biden to drop charges. He should.
Israel Raids the Associated Press and Seizes Equipment Over War Coverage
There's no justification for cracking down on news organizations for reporting the news during war.
The New York Times Implausibly Blames 'Looser' Gun Laws for a Homicide Spike That Is Now Receding
Without providing any evidence, the paper says "loosened restrictions on firearms" contributed to gun violence in Columbus.
Review: Understanding AI Helps Separate the Sci From the Fi
Like it or not, AI is here to stay. In his newsletter, Timothy B. Lee helps explain what comes next.
Reason Is a Finalist for 14 Southern California Journalism Awards
Nominated stories include journalism on messy nutrition research, pickleball, government theft, homelessness, and more.
Journalism Is Not a Crime, Even When It Offends the Government
Julian Assange and Priscilla Villarreal were both arrested for publishing information that government officials wanted to conceal.
Los Angeles Undermines Freedom of Information In Suit Over Police Photos
City gives journalist photos. Journalist publishes photos. City…sues journalist?
Americans Favor Freedom of the Press, Sort Of
Half the country says suppressing “false information” is more important than press freedom.
A Texas Reporter Busted for Asking Questions Asks SCOTUS To Reject the Criminalization of Journalism
Priscilla Villarreal is appealing a 5th Circuit decision that dismissed her First Amendment lawsuit against Laredo police and prosecutors.
Ford Fischer: Why You Should Surveil the State
The News2Share cofounder is revolutionizing news coverage.
How the FISA Reauthorization Bill Could Force Maintenance Workers and Custodians To Become Government Spies
"This bill would basically allow the government to institute a spy draft," warns head of the Freedom of the Press Foundation.
Another Day, Another Doomed Plan To Defund NPR
We've seen this saga so many times before.
NPR's Katherine Maher Is Not Taking Questions About Her Tweets
"I am not in the newsroom," the embattled NPR chieftain said over and over again.
Civil War Is a Brutal, Intense No-Sidesing of American Political Divisions
Alex Garland's latest post-apocalyptic thought experiment is a war movie without a take.
Kansas Police Facing Lawsuit After Conducting 'Illegal' Raid Against Small-Town Paper
Last year, the offices of the Marion County Record were raided by police. A new lawsuit claims the search was illegal retaliation against the paper.
Ronna McDaniel and the Media's Election Denial Double Standard
The former RNC chairwoman is in good company.
If Ronna McDaniel Is Beyond the Pale, NBC May Have Trouble Presenting 'Diverse Viewpoints'
The former RNC chair's concession that Biden won "fair and square" did not save her from internal outrage at her support for Trump's stolen-election fantasy.
Don't Make Journalism School Free
Most aspiring journalists need an apprenticeship, not a degree.
Who Best Chronicles the Absurd Reality of Venezuelan Politics? A Giant Manic-Depressive Rodent
Diosdado Cabello, Nicolás Maduro's right-hand man, is threatening retribution against the satirical website.
Bloodbath
Plus: Space dining, Russian elections, Bernie Sanders' 32-hour workweek, and more...
The New York Times Again Worries That Free Speech Endangers Democracy
The newspaper portrays the constitutional challenge to the government's social media meddling as a conspiracy by Donald Trump's supporters.
Oklahoma Autopsy Finds That a Bullied Nonbinary Student Committed Suicide
After blaming the state's bathroom law, The New York Times says "it has never been clear" whether gender identity figured in the fight that preceded Nex Benedict's death.
Milei Closes State News Agency Télam for 'Spreading Propaganda'
"It is immoral that in a poor country like ours," the Argentine president said, "the government spends the people's money to buy the will of journalists."
Feds Target Journalist Tim Burke With Law Intended for Hackers
An escalation in the war between people who publish secrets and those who seek to keep them.
The New York Times Implausibly Implicates Oklahoma's Bathroom Law in the Death of a Nonbinary Student
Don’t let culture war politics overwhelm a commitment to the facts.
The Biden Administration Is Bent on Setting an Alarming Precedent by Prosecuting Julian Assange
The WikiLeaks founder already has spent as much time in a London prison as DOJ lawyers say he is likely to serve if convicted in the U.S.
Tucker Carlson Is No 'Traitor' for Doing Journalism
Everybody has the right to speak and then take the heat.
Trump's Terrible, Popular Tariffs
Plus: A listener asks if it should become the norm for all news outlets to require journalists to disclose their voting records.
The 5th Circuit Says Criminalizing Journalism Is Not Obviously Unconstitutional
The appeals court dismissed a civil rights lawsuit by a Laredo gadfly who was arrested for asking questions.
She Was Arrested for Her Journalism. A Federal Court Says She Can't Sue.
Priscilla Villarreal, also known as "Lagordiloca," has sparked a debate about free speech and who, exactly, is a journalist.
Jon Ronson: Why We Went So Crazy During COVID Lockdowns
The Things Fell Apart host explains how a 1988 quack medical concept inspired George Floyd's death in 2020 and how Plandemic rewrote Star Wars.
Why We Went Crazy During COVID Lockdowns
The Things Fell Apart host Jon Ronson explains how a 1988 quack medical concept inspired George Floyd's death in 2020 and how Plandemic is basically a rewrite of Star Wars.
James Kirchick: 'Abolish Speech Codes Entirely'
How identity politics and institutional cowardice have undermined the free speech on which our society relies.
How Emily Blunt Copes With Her Stutter
John Stossel and the English actress discuss their shared problem—and why they'd like to destigmatize stuttering.
U.S. Attacks Houthis in Yemen
Plus: Biden staffers can't grow a pair, AI ancestor worship, Taiwanese elections, and more...
How FDR Emasculated the Black Press in World War II
Instead of indulging in politically risky sedition prosecutions of the black press, the government relied on indirect methods of behind-the-scenes manipulation and intimidation.
The Best of Reason: Monkey Herpes, Face Eating, and the Pork Chop Gang: The Origins of Florida Man
The growing anti-transparency atmosphere in the state might make the Florida Man extinct.
