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Press Freedom Under Attack

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  • Press Freedom Under Attack

    We already know that Trump thinks that press coverage unfavorable to him is the enemy of the people. Now we find that the US wants to charge Assange with espionage for publishing secret material. Consequently, the freedom of the press is at serious risk.

    The Espionage Act was a panic measure enacted by Congress to clamp down on dissent or “sedition” when the US entered the First World War in 1917. In the subsequent 102 years it has never been used to prosecute a media organisation for publishing or disseminating unlawfully disclosed classified information. Nobody prosecuted under the act is permitted to offer a public interest defence.
    Whatever Assange got up to in 2010-11, it was not espionage. Nor is he a US citizen. The criminal acts this Australian maverick allegedly committed all happened outside the US. As Joel Simon, director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, has observed: “Under this rubric, anyone anywhere in the world who publishes information that the US government deems to be classified could be prosecuted for espionage.”

    Imagine the precedent if the Trump administration gets away with this. Israel and India have extensive nuclear weapons programmes – each protected by ferocious domestic official secrets acts. Think of the outcry if the Netanyahu or Modi governments attempted to extradite a British or US journalist to face life in jail for writing true things about their nuclear arsenals.
    Whenever you read about journalists harming national security, massive alarm bells should start ringing. Think no further than Richard Nixon trying to prosecute the Pentagon Papers whistleblower, Daniel Ellsberg, for harming national security in 1971. Ellsberg, an intelligence analyst, found that the Vietnam war had been prosecuted on the basis of a web of lies and thought the public deserved to know. To Nixon, Ellsberg’s commitment to the truth was treason. He reached for the Espionage Act.
    https://www.theguardian.com/commenti...eedom-of-press

    Americans, I implore you, don’t let the fascists take those freedoms away without a fight.
    Last edited by firstfloor; 05-26-2019, 04:15 PM.
    “I think God, in creating man, somewhat overestimated his ability.” ― Oscar Wilde
    “And if there were a God, I think it very unlikely that He would have such an uneasy vanity as to be offended by those who doubt His existence” ― Bertrand Russell
    “not all there” - you know who you are

  • #2
    Assange is no more a "journalist" than Wikileaks is "the press" - that is to say, he's not one. He is nothing more than a purveyor of stolen information.

    The Guardian should perhaps stick to areas where it is informed rather than attempting to interpret the internal affairs of foreign nations.
    Enter the Church and wash away your sins. For here there is a hospital and not a court of law. Do not be ashamed to enter the Church; be ashamed when you sin, but not when you repent. – St. John Chrysostom

    Veritas vos Liberabit<>< Learn Greek <>< Look here for an Orthodox Church in America<><Ancient Faith Radio
    sigpic
    I recommend you do not try too hard and ...research as little as possible. Such weighty things give me a headache. - Shunyadragon, Baha'i apologist

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by One Bad Pig View Post
      Assange is no more a "journalist" than Wikileaks is "the press" - that is to say, he's not one. He is nothing more than a purveyor of stolen information.

      The Guardian should perhaps stick to areas where it is informed rather than attempting to interpret the internal affairs of foreign nations.
      With any luck, the goodies will be able to keep Assange away from people like you.
      “I think God, in creating man, somewhat overestimated his ability.” ― Oscar Wilde
      “And if there were a God, I think it very unlikely that He would have such an uneasy vanity as to be offended by those who doubt His existence” ― Bertrand Russell
      “not all there” - you know who you are

      Comment


      • #4
        I get confused, is The Guardian the tabloid that had the headline "Woman Gives Birth in Choir - Baby Comes Out Singing Amazing Grace"?
        The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by firstfloor View Post
          With any luck, the goodies will be able to keep Assange away from people like you.
          With any luck Assange will soon be in a Swedish jail for those rape charges
          Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.
          1 Corinthians 16:13

          "...he [Doherty] is no historian and he is not even conversant with the historical discussions of the very matters he wants to pontificate on."
          -Ben Witherington III

          Comment


          • #6
            Democrats hated Assange when he was revealing their dirty secrets during the election. Now they suddenly love him because... Trump.
            Some may call me foolish, and some may call me odd
            But I'd rather be a fool in the eyes of man
            Than a fool in the eyes of God


            From "Fools Gold" by Petra

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by Mountain Man View Post
              Democrats hated Assange when he was revealing their dirty secrets during the election. Now they suddenly love him because... Trump.
              If Trump had announced that they wouldn't seek his extradition you can bet your bottom dollar the very same people now complaining that the government wants to prosecute him would be screaming that Trump has given amnesty to a terrorist.

              I'm always still in trouble again

              "You're by far the worst poster on TWeb" and "TWeb's biggest liar" --starlight (the guy who says Stalin was a right-winger)
              "Overall I would rate the withdrawal from Afghanistan as by far the best thing Biden's done" --Starlight
              "Of course, human life begins at fertilization that’s not the argument." --Tassman

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by Mountain Man View Post
                Democrats hated Assange when he was revealing their dirty secrets during the election. Now they suddenly love him because... Trump.
                That’s not it. Either US Gov is ensuring that Assange will not be extradited or they want to go after journalists more generally. Why? Because fascists!
                “I think God, in creating man, somewhat overestimated his ability.” ― Oscar Wilde
                “And if there were a God, I think it very unlikely that He would have such an uneasy vanity as to be offended by those who doubt His existence” ― Bertrand Russell
                “not all there” - you know who you are

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by Raphael View Post
                  With any luck Assange will soon be in a Swedish jail for those rape charges
                  "rape" charges.

                  Two women who decided to have sex with Assange because he was a "personage," one of them bragging about it online afterwards, then decide that Assange used his notoriety as a lure to bed them, which amounts under Swedish law to "rape." If you have notoriety, when in Sweden, don't take a woman up on her offer, because that would be raping her.
                  1Cor 15:34 Come to your senses as you ought and stop sinning; for I say to your shame, there are some who know not God.
                  .
                  ⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛
                  Scripture before Tradition:
                  but that won't prevent others from
                  taking it upon themselves to deprive you
                  of the right to call yourself Christian.

                  ⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by tabibito View Post
                    "rape" charges.

                    Two women who decided to have sex with Assange because he was a "personage," one of them bragging about it online afterwards, then decide that Assange used his notoriety as a lure to bed them, which amounts under Swedish law to "rape." If you have notoriety, when in Sweden, don't take a woman up on her offer, because that would be raping her.
                    No, the charge was because the woman agreed to only have sex if a condom was used.
                    Assange is accused of tearing a condom and then initiating unprotected sex with one of the woman while she was still asleep. Under Swedish law that is rape as consent was not given for unprotected sex.
                    Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.
                    1 Corinthians 16:13

                    "...he [Doherty] is no historian and he is not even conversant with the historical discussions of the very matters he wants to pontificate on."
                    -Ben Witherington III

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      A different one to the story that was circulating around the time that Asange first came to my attention.
                      If that was the case, the picture changes dramatically; but it seems that the Swedish police have repeatedly tried to drop the case, and didn't want to pursue it when the allegations first were made - too complex a situation for me to comment further.
                      1Cor 15:34 Come to your senses as you ought and stop sinning; for I say to your shame, there are some who know not God.
                      .
                      ⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛
                      Scripture before Tradition:
                      but that won't prevent others from
                      taking it upon themselves to deprive you
                      of the right to call yourself Christian.

                      ⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by dirtfloor View Post
                        That’s not it. Either US Gov is ensuring that Assange will not be extradited or they want to go after journalists more generally. Why? Because fascists!
                        I've seen nothing to suggest that Trump has any intent of adopting Obama's policy of actively punishing any reporter and news organization who displeases him. And by "punishing", I mean that Obama did more than simply call them names on Twitter. A lot more, including spying on them, using the IRS to harass them, and even threatening them with jail.

                        https://www.baltimoresun.com/enterta...304-story.html

                        It's disingenuous to pretend that Assange is just an average, everyday news reporter.
                        Some may call me foolish, and some may call me odd
                        But I'd rather be a fool in the eyes of man
                        Than a fool in the eyes of God


                        From "Fools Gold" by Petra

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Mountain Man View Post
                          I've seen nothing to suggest that Trump has any intent of adopting Obama's policy of actively punishing any reporter and news organization who displeases him. And by "punishing", I mean that Obama did more than simply call them names on Twitter. A lot more, including spying on them, using the IRS to harass them, and even threatening them with jail.

                          https://www.baltimoresun.com/enterta...304-story.html

                          It's disingenuous to pretend that Assange is just an average, everyday news reporter.
                          Trump did kick reporters out of specific events but that hardly compares to trying to ban an entire network from all Administration events.

                          Anywho... For a little background so a comparison can be made:
                          Originally posted by rogue06 View Post

                          Originally posted by Mountain Man View Post
                          Just to put things into perspective...

                          Source: Trump's war on press no match for Obama's

                          (March 2017) [The Trump administration] has not yet come close to doing what President Obama's administration did in making the act of reporting itself criminal behavior in a case that started in 2009 under the Espionage Act of 1917.

                          At the heart of the case is James Rosen, chief Washington correspondent for Fox News, publishing information about North Korea that he received from a State Department employee.

                          In obtaining a subpoena to access Rosen's phone and computer records, the Justice Department labeled him "an aider, abettor and/or co-conspirator." It also described him as a flight risk.

                          Branding a reporter that way in court documents had never been done by the government. Since the case was widely reported, I am surprised an act that really was unprecedented was overlooked by so many pundits in making their worst-ever analyses.

                          [...]

                          ...check out what Obama's administration did to James Risen, an investigative reporter at The New York Times.

                          The Obama Justice Department spent seven years in court trying to force Risen to reveal his sources in its criminal investigation of a leak. Team Obama took the case all the way to the Supreme Court.

                          Seven years with the threat of jail hanging over your head seems a lot worse than being excluded from an informal briefing with the press secretary on a Friday afternoon — especially when the content of that briefing would be available from pool reporters. But I lost count of all the cable heads saying in their best ominous voices last weekend how "chilling" Trump's action was.

                          http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertai...304-story.html

                          © Copyright Original Source


                          And from the reliably right-winger The Huffington Post:

                          Source: Obama’s Escalating War on Freedom of the Press

                          (2013) The part of the First Amendment that prohibits “abridging the freedom ... of the press” is now up against the wall, as the Obama administration continues to assault the kind of journalism that can expose government secrets.

                          Last Friday the administration got what it wanted — an ice-cold chilling effect — from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled on the case of New York Times reporter James Risen. The court “delivered a blow to investigative journalism in America by ruling that reporters have no First Amendment protection that would safeguard the confidentiality of their sources in the event of a criminal trial,” the Guardian reported.

                          The Executive Branch fought for that ruling — and is now celebrating. “We agree with the decision,” said a Justice Department spokesman. “We are examining the next steps in the prosecution of this case.” The Risen case, and potentially many others, are now under the ominous shadow of the Appeals Court’s pronouncement: “There is no First Amendment testimonial privilege, absolute or qualified, that protects a reporter from being compelled to testify ... in criminal proceedings.”

                          At the Freedom of the Press Foundation, co-founder Trevor Timm calls the court ruling “the most significant reporter’s privilege decision in decades” and asserts that the court “eviscerated that privilege.” He’s not exaggerating. Press freedom is at stake.

                          https://www.huffingtonpost.com/norma...b_3635370.html

                          © Copyright Original Source


                          So those of you clucking your tongues at Trump, where were you when Obama was literally threatening reporters with jail time for asking the "wrong" questions?
                          Source: WHY IT'LL BE HARD FOR TRUMP TO SURPASS OBAMA'S RECORD OF CHILLING PRESS FREEDOM


                          ‘Folks like Rush Limbaugh, some commentators on Fox News, that hot house ... has been harmful to the country’


                          Many in the mainstream media are reacting with righteous indignation over comments from a senior Trump adviser suggesting the administration views the traditional media as an opponent. But if we're to take these apostles of press freedom seriously, they should first explain why the Trump Administration is worse than the Obama Administration.

                          After all, the Obama Administration literally tried imprisoning an uncooperative journalist, monitored journalists' every digital move, and "hammered" at least one challenging reporter with IRS audits.

                          Let's rewind the tape.

                          The Obama Administration began with lofty promises of being "the most transparent administration in history." Instead it ended up setting a record, by the Associated Press's count, for denying the most Freedom of Information Act requests.

                          As the administration's popularity began tumbling early into its first year, the Obama White House declared war on Fox News. The White House director of communications, Anita Dunn, warned they would henceforth treat Fox News "like an opponent," insisting, "we don’t need to pretend that this is the way that legitimate news organizations behave."

                          The Obama administration made good on that threat. Soon thereafter, the administration sought to deny Fox News' participation in executive branch news-making events -- which only failed after other networks admirably refused to participate if Fox News were excluded.

                          As you'll see in the montage above, President Obama blamed Fox News and talk radio for virtually every problem his administration encountered, warning in his waning days that these "domestic propagandists" were far more damaging to America than any interference from hostile powers like Russia.

                          When Fox News's State Department correspondent, James Rosen, reported accurate information about North Korea leaked by a member of the Obama State Department, Eric Holder ordered his movements to be tracked, his phone records seized, and went "judge shopping" until he found one willing to grant such a warrant without telling Rosen himself. Holder even told Google to not notify Rosen that the government was monitoring his email.

                          "To treat a reporter as a criminal for doing his job — seeking out information the government doesn’t want made public — deprives Americans of the First Amendment freedom on which all other constitutional rights are based," the Washington Post wrote at the time.

                          And it wasn't just Fox News. The New York Times's James Risen was targeted for almost the entirety of Obama's two terms. His crime? Reporting accurate information the Obama Administration didn't want reported. "Along the way, we found out that the government had spied on virtually every aspect of James Risen’s digital life from phone calls, to emails, to credit card statements, bank records and more," the Freedom of the Press Foundation reported. After the Supreme Court rejected Risen's appeal of an earlier order mandating he testify about the source of information he reported, Risen faced jail time.

                          After an outcry, Holder finally backed down.

                          The Associated Press experienced similar surveillance. For two months, the Department of Justice tracked 20 AP reporters' calls, ostensibly over their reporting into a Libyan terrorist's failed plot. Why was reporting on a failed plot so threatening? The AP said it was because the administration wanted to announce the news itself.

                          Obama himself was notorious for granting interviews with journalists whom he knew would treat him gently -- like Steve Kroft. When Obama accidentally exposed himself to a mildly challenging interview with a local reporter in Saint Louis, that reporter was later "hammered" with IRS audits.

                          With the Obama Administration, the message to the media was always clear: Report negatively about us, and we'll use the powers at our disposal to make you suffer consequences.

                          If those journalists currently complaining about the Trump Administration found no such fault with the Obama Administration, perhaps it's because they were all too willing to toe the line.



                          Source

                          © Copyright Original Source



                          Now imagine if Trump started tracking a bunch of reporters phone calls, not because they were publishing classified information, but merely because they had published a story that Trump wanted to be the first to release. Or sicced the IRS after reporters who asked tough questions. The howls of outrage would be heard far and wide and those would be the lead stories for days on end as scowling left-wing pundits and politicians would be calling for impeachment.



                          And a couple pieces by the rabidly anti-Trump New York Times:

                          Source: If Donald Trump Targets Journalists, Thank Obama


                          If Donald J. Trump decides as president to throw a whistle-blower in jail for trying to talk to a reporter, or gets the F.B.I. to spy on a journalist, he will have one man to thank for bequeathing him such expansive power: Barack Obama.

                          Mr. Trump made his animus toward the news media clear during the presidential campaign, often expressing his disgust with coverage through Twitter or in diatribes at rallies. So if his campaign is any guide, Mr. Trump seems likely to enthusiastically embrace the aggressive crackdown on journalists and whistle-blowers that is an important yet little understood component of Mr. Obama’s presidential legacy.

                          Criticism of Mr. Obama’s stance on press freedom, government transparency and secrecy is hotly disputed by the White House, but many journalism groups say the record is clear. Over the past eight years, the administration has prosecuted nine cases involving whistle-blowers and leakers, compared with only three by all previous administrations combined. It has repeatedly used the Espionage Act, a relic of World War I-era red-baiting, not to prosecute spies but to go after government officials who talked to journalists.

                          Under Mr. Obama, the Justice Department and the F.B.I. have spied on reporters by monitoring their phone records, labeled one journalist an unindicted co-conspirator in a criminal case for simply doing reporting and issued subpoenas to other reporters to try to force them to reveal their sources and testify in criminal cases.



                          Source

                          © Copyright Original Source



                          Source: Only Nixon Harmed a Free Press More


                          The search warrant filed to investigate the Fox News reporter James Rosen proved as many had suspected: President Obama wants to make it a crime for a reporter to talk to a leaker. It is a further example of how President Obama will surely pass President Richard Nixon as the worst president ever on issues of national security and press freedom.

                          The government's subpoena of The Associated Press's phone records was bad enough. But the disclosure of the search warrant in the Rosen case shows President Obama has delved into territory never before reached by previous presidents.

                          The Justice Department obtained Rosen’s e-mail by using a search warrant in which it alleged that Rosen was a co-conspirator with a government adviser named Stephen Kim.

                          This conspiracy, as imagined by the Justice Department, commenced as soon as Rosen started e-mailing or talking with Kim. But reporters have the right to talk to anyone, under the First Amendment. Obama’s theory of conspiracy therefore strikes at the heart of that amendment.

                          Until President Obama came into office, no one thought talking or emailing was not protected by the First Amendment.



                          Source

                          © Copyright Original Source



                          [*Both stories continues at the above links*]

                          I'm always still in trouble again

                          "You're by far the worst poster on TWeb" and "TWeb's biggest liar" --starlight (the guy who says Stalin was a right-winger)
                          "Overall I would rate the withdrawal from Afghanistan as by far the best thing Biden's done" --Starlight
                          "Of course, human life begins at fertilization that’s not the argument." --Tassman

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by rogue06 View Post
                            Trump did kick reporters out of specific events but that hardly compares to trying to ban an entire network from all Administration events.
                            Trump has occasionally banned a reporter from a press conference while allowing another reporter from the same news organization to attend. This is what he did when CNN's Jim Acosta started to become particularly belligerent and disrespectful during White House press briefings. And considering we haven't heard much from Acosta lately, it seems he got the message.
                            Some may call me foolish, and some may call me odd
                            But I'd rather be a fool in the eyes of man
                            Than a fool in the eyes of God


                            From "Fools Gold" by Petra

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              The press stopped being free years ago.
                              That's what
                              - She

                              Without a clear-cut definition of sin, morality becomes a mere argument over the best way to train animals
                              - Manya the Holy Szin (The Quintara Marathon)

                              I may not be as old as dirt, but me and dirt are starting to have an awful lot in common
                              - Stephen R. Donaldson

                              Comment

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