It’s not just SPECIAL REPORT | MAY 2017 Trump: US media freedom fraying at the edges A review of threats to press freedom US MEDIA FREEDOM INDEX

About this report

HIS NON-EXHAUSTIVE STUDY of threats to media freedom in the United TStates researched over 150 publicly report- ed incidents involving journalists. It uses the criteria developed for and employed by Mapping Media Freedom, Index on Cen- sorship’s project launched in May 2014 that monitors the media landscape in 42 European and neighboring countries. This survey reviewed media freedom violations that occurred in the United States between June 30, 2016, and February 28, 2017. Reports were submitted by a team of researchers. Each incident was then fact- checked by Index on Censorship against multiple sources.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS INDEX ON CENSORSHIP is a UK- based nonprofit that campaigns against Author: Sally Gimson censorship and promotes freedom of ex- Editor: Sean Gallagher pression worldwide. Founded in 1972, Index has published some of the world’s Research: Hannah Machlin, leading writers and artists in its award- Elise Thomas, Amanda James, winning quarterly magazine, including Laura Stevens, Alex Gibson, Gary Dickson, Courtney Manning, Nadine Gordimer, Mario Vargas Llosa, Madeline Domenichella Samuel Beckett and Kurt Vonnegut. Index Additional research/editing: promotes debate, monitors threats to free Ryan McChrystal, Melody Patry, At- speech and supports individuals through its ticus O'Brien-Pappalardo, annual awards and fellowship program. Esther Egbeyemi, Samuele Volpe, Jemimah Steinfeld

llustrations: Eva Bee Design: Matthew Hasteley

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MEARS ABOUT THE media made by US have also been caught up in the move to tight- SPresident Donald Trump have obscured a en border security, a trend that began during JUST wider problem with press freedom in the Unit- President Barack Obama’s administration but ed States: namely widespread and low-level gathered pace after the Trump inauguration animosity that feeds into the everyday work- on January 20, 2017. Without clear guide- ing lives of the nation’s journalists, bloggers lines, journalists have found themselves at and media professionals. This study examines the mercy of Customs and Border Protection documented reports from across the country agents who have seized and searched their TRUMP: in the six months leading up to the presi- electronic devices. dential inauguration and the months after. It The arrests and border searches come as clearly shows that threats to US press freedom states are introducing new legislation or in- go well beyond the Oval Offi ce. terpreting older laws in ways likely to have a “Animosity toward the press comes in many detrimental effect on reporting. forms. Journalists are targeted in several ways: For citizen reporters and freelancers, who US MEDIA from social media trolling to harassment by do not have the protection of media organiza- law enforcement to over-the-top public criti- tions, the climate was already hostile and is cism by those in the highest offi ce. The nega- now becoming more so. As the experience of tive atmosphere for journalists is damaging Gawker has shown, even large media websites for the public and their right to information,” can be driven out of business if they rile the FREEDOM said Jodie Ginsberg, CEO at Index on Cen- rich and powerful. sorship, which documented the cases using “Attention on the media has focused on an approach undertaken by the organization the very public spat between Donald Trump to monitor press freedom in Europe over the and major news outlets,” Melody Patry, head past three years. of advocacy at Index on Censorship, The US study shows journalists said. “But this survey shows that FRAYING have been on the receiving end threats to media freedom of online and offl ine har- ass- are far more deep-rooted ment, as well as being and affect local journalists, arrested and charged bloggers and investigative with criminal of- reporters across the country. fenses just for This is a serious cause for AT THE doing their job. concern in a country that Reporters prides itself on the First traveling into Amendment principles the country protecting a free press.” EDGES CREDIT: Eva Bee 3 INDEXONCENSORSHIP.ORG US MEDIA FREEDOM INDEX

The law enforcement response to protesters and reporters has been increasingly militarized in the state according to the American Civil Liberties Union. In August 2016 the former Arrests and governor of North Dakota Jack Dalrymple (R) declared a state of emergency. Among journalists arrested and charged were Amy Goodman, host of the news pro- detainments gram Democracy Now! She was taken into custody on September 3, 2016, after she fi lmed private security guards employed by Dakota Access LLC using dogs and pepper spray to disperse the protests against construc- HE ARREST OF journalists covering dem- producer, a photojournalist, a live-streamer tion work. Her video has been viewed over 14 onstrations poses one of the largest direct and a freelance reporter. However, charges million times on Facebook. At fi rst Goodman Tthreats to the freedom of reporters perform- against four of the journalists were dropped was charged with a misdemeanor offense of ing their professional duties. Not only are they nine days later. Charges against videographer criminal trespass, but that was escalated by physically removed from the protests but they Shay Horse were dismissed on February 21. the state attorney to a rioting felony. A district are also being charged with serious criminal Only freelance reporter Aaron Cantu remains judge fi nally dismissed the charges in October. offenses. Previously journalists may have been charged with felony rioting. In another pipeline protest, documentary charged with misdemeanors – the most seri- Other examples of reporters targeted dur- filmmaker Deia Schlosberg was detained ous of which only carries a large fi ne or up to ing protests include those covering the Dakota while fi lming a demonstration on October 11, a year in prison. Now they are being charged Access Pipeline and Black Lives Matter dem- 2016, where climate change activists manually with felonies, which can carry decades in jail. onstrations discussed in more detail below. closed off the TransCanada Keystone Pipeline “This trend towards treating reporters at More incidents suggest law enforcement of- in Walhalla, North Dakota, which brings tar Skagit County in Washington state, docu- protests as active participants is alarming. Al- fi cers need training and directives to respect sands oil across the border from Canada. It mentary producer Lindsey Grayzel and her though these charges are most often dropped, journalists’ rights to cover events – like the was one of fi ve similar demonstrations that cinematographer Carl Davis were arrested the continuing arrests could cause journalists case of Chris Hayes, a Fox 2 St. Louis jour- day held by climate change activists as an act and held for 24 hours for fi lming activist Ken to think twice about covering a demonstration nalist, who on June 30, 2016, was handcuffed of solidarity with the campaign against the Ward manually closing off the Trans Moun- or reporting on police abuses against partici- and shackled to a bench in Kinloch, Missouri. DAPL. Schlosberg was charged with three of- pants,” Hannah Machlin, project offi cer for He was detained after objecting to being fenses which could have landed her in prison Index on Censorship's Mapping Media Free- barred from a public meeting on uninsured for 45 years: conspiracy to theft of property, I don’t see why I would not be dom, said. and unregistered police cars, a story that Fox conspiracy to theft of services and conspiracy allowed to get a photo of peaceful This pattern did not begin with the election 2 had originally investigated. Hayes was is- to tampering with or damaging a public ser- of Trump. These decisions were also taken sued a court summons for failure to comply vice. The charges were eventually suspended protesters being arrested. If that is during the Obama administration by local law and disorderly conduct. and will be formally dropped, but only if she off limits, what else is? enforcement agencies and state attorneys. commits no further crimes for six months. Six journalists who were covering protests North Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) Schlosberg told The Guardian that she hasn’t at Trump’s inauguration were arrested in the and associated protests covered a protest since October to avoid se- tain pipeline. Grayzel is in the process of mak- capital and charged with felonies, the most se- Several journalists and documentary fi lmmak- rious consequences were she to be arrested ing a documentary about Ward. vere punishment under Washington DC’s law ers covering protests against the controversial again, demonstrating the effect that such ac- Though neither Grayzel nor Davis were on against rioting. oil pipeline project have been arrested and tions can have on journalism. pipeline property, they were charged with sec- They included two reporters, a documentary charged with felonies. On the same day, at another protest near ond-degree burglary, criminal sabotage and ➔

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➔ assemblage of saboteurs, all felony cases highway.” Within the week all charges against which could lead to a 30-year prison sentence. him had been dropped. The charges were ultimately dismissed, but Two other journalists were also arrested Grayzel said the police still had her memory at the same demonstration. WAFB (a CBS- cards with footage on them, her phone and affi liated TV station for Baton Rouge) assis- her notes. tant news editor Chris Slaughter, who was The charges against other filmmakers, clearly identifi ed by his staff shirt and media who also fi lmed activists on October 11, are credentials, and Breitbart News reporter Lee still pending and they could still face prison Stranahan were charged with obstruction of a sentences. highway. Two black reporters were briefl y handcuffed Black Lives Matter protests by police in Rochester, New York during simi- Journalists at Black Lives Matter and similar lar protests over the shooting of black men. demonstrations have been arrested by police, Carlet Cleare and Justin Carter of WHAM- even though they clearly identifi ed themselves TV were detained in the early hours of July as members of the press. 9, 2016, for a short time before being released Ryan Kailath was on an assignment for Na- tional Public Radio covering the New Black Panthers protests in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, I was transferred between six on July 9, 2016, when he was arrested. The CASE STUDY locations, searched naked, given journalist, but they did not seem to care, she incident took place following the killing of TRACIE WILLIAMS added. Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old black man, by an orange jumpsuit and a medical Williams was handcuff ed with zip ties and Baton Rouge police offi cers. Kailath said he and mental health screening, Tracie Williams is an experienced documenta- transported fi rst to the Morton County Sher- was standing on a grass verge covering the ry photographer. She had been covering the iff 's Department, where she, along with seven protests but as things got violent he retreated and fi nally checked in to the East main protest camp at Standing Rock for three other women were held in chain-link cages into another line of police offi cers who ar- Baton Rouge Parish Prison weeks before she was arrested on February in a drafty garage. They were asked to strip rested him. Kailath said he repeatedly identi- 23, 2017, during a police operation to evict down to their base layers and all their belong- fi ed himself as a journalist but was ignored. protesters from the site. She says the police ings, including their jackets, were placed in As he tweeted on July 11, a police offi cer said with a public apology from the mayor and arrived at the camp with humvees, helicopters clear plastic bags. They were then transferred to him: “I’m tired of y’all saying you’re jour- chief of police. and automatic weapons. "I feared for the pro- to McLean County, where they were charged nalists.” Kailath explained that when he was On August 22, 2016, in Asheville, North testers' safety and felt a duty to photograph with “Obstruction of Gov. Function.” The plas- arrested, the police identifi ed him as a black Carolina, Dan Hesse, a reporter for the local their imminent arrests," Williams said, recall- tic ties they used to handcuff her, she said, man although he is an Indian-American. paper Mountain Xpress, was arrested while ing the photograph she made as members have caused her nerve damage. She now of the Morton County Sheriff ’s Department faces a class A misdemeanor charge, which Kailath said of his experience: “I was trans- covering a sit-in protest by Black Lives Matter. advanced towards two men praying near carries a possible sentence of up to a year in ferred between six locations, searched naked, He was with protesters who were occupying the sacred fi re with weapons aimed at them prison and $3K in fi nes. All of her gear includ- given an orange jumpsuit and a medical and the lobby of the police and fi re department at point-blank range. Offi cers approached ing her camera, phone, audio recorder and mental health screening, and fi nally checked when it was cleared by police. He told offi c- her from the side, without notice or warning, memory cards, were confi scated as evidence. in to the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison. In ers and protesters he was a journalist. He was Williams said, and she was arrested while Williams got the equipment back but not until the morning, we were given the local paper, nevertheless arrested and charged, though photographing the arrests. She was covering she had harnessed help from two lawyers, The Advocate. It was only when an inmate charges were dropped a week later. “I don’t the protest for the National Press Photogra- several advocacy groups and a local senator. paging through it looked up at me and said: see why I would not be allowed to get a photo phers' Association and told police she was a She is still facing charges in North Dakota. ‘Hey, you’re in here!’ that I learned I was of peaceful protesters being arrested,” said being charged with simple obstruction of a Hesse. “If that is off limits, what else is?” ➔

CREDIT: Tracie Williams 5 INDEXONCENSORSHIP.ORG US MEDIA FREEDOM INDEX

➔ On November 9, 2016, two reporters, devices were searched in February 2017 alone, he had fl own into Chicago. Hamedani said offi cials have used Trump’s executive order “to Jason Silverstein and EJ Fox, were arrested as many as in all of 2015. he was forced to hand over his phone and its subject returning residents like Mr. Tawfeeq while covering protests outside Trump Tower The most disturbing aspect of these deten- password. Sama Dizayee, a Washington-based to inappropriate exercises of discretion with in New York. Silverstein said in an article for tions is that journalists (and indeed any US Iraqi journalist who planned to fl y to London regard to their right to return to the United the Daily News, New York that he was hand- citizen) can have their phones and electronic in February 2017, told NPR she was afraid to States, and to lengthy delays and interrogations cuffed with plastic ties by a police offi cer who equipment searched at the border without cus- travel because of her belief that she might not at ports of entry”. accused him of blocking the sidewalk. He toms offi cers or Homeland Security offi cials be allowed back in the country. Although she “Offi cials should respect the right of was charged with disorderly conduct and re- having to prove any suspicion of wrongdo- has a green card, she said, she had no certain- journalists to protect confi dential infor- fusing an order to disperse. Fox said he was ing. Only journalists and US citizens actually ty that her rights to live in the USA would be mation and refrain from demanding held from 9pm until 2am and considered him- inside the country are protected by a 2014 guaranteed if she left and tried to come back access to people’s devices, online ac- self lucky, but hoped that the behavior of the Supreme Court ruling which says police must into the country. Meanwhile, senior CNN edi- counts and passwords. Journalist0s NYPD had not been affected by the Trump get warrants to search phones. Otherwise they tor Mohammed Tawfeeq fi led a lawsuit against must be aware of possible requests presidency. have no protection under the Fourth Amend- the travel ban after being detained at Atlanta’s by border agents, which may ment at the border. airport over the weekend of January 28 and compromise their security and US border detentions In one incident, a Wall Street Journal Mid- 29, the days following Trump’s signing of the that of their sources,” Map- Many journalists have found themselves de- dle East correspondent and US citizen, Maria travel ban executive order. He is an Iraqi citizen ping Media Freedom's Ma- tained at the US border. Over the period cov- Abi-Habib, was detained on July 14, 2016, by with a US green card. The lawsuit argued that chlin said. border control offi cers at Los Angeles Inter- national Airport and asked for access to her Customs and Border Protection two phones. She recounted in a Facebook post offi cials should respect the how she managed to hold them off by threat- ening to call WSJ lawyers because the phones CASE STUDY right of journalists to protect were the property of her employer. Another confi dential information, and journalist, Kim Badawi, was held at Miami In- ED OU ternational Airport for 10 hours when he fl ew refrain from demanding access to in from Rio for Thanksgiving. A US citizen Ed Ou, an award-winning Canadian photo- people’s devices and passwords who works for Le Monde in Rio, Badawi was journalist, tried to cross the US-Canadian questioned by Customs and Border Protection border to cover the Dakota Access Pipeline agents about his passport stamps for Middle protests on October 1, 2016. He found him- ered by the survey, there were several reports Eastern countries, his political views and his self detained for six hours, had his phone searched, his journal photocopied and was of journalists being stopped by US Customs religious affi liation. His baggage was searched then refused entry. Border security was not and Border Protection agents, detained and and he was forced to surrender the password interested in Ou’s concerns about protect- asked to hand over equipment and notes. of his phone so agents could go through all of ing his sources. In a letter to Customs and Some of these incidents occurred before his contacts, photos and messages, including Border Protection and Homeland Secu- Trump was elected and before he signed an confi dential WhatsApp messages from Syrian rity, American Civil Liberties Union attorney executive order for a travel ban. According to refugees. Badawi wrote a fi rst-person account Hugh Handeyside wrote: “[W]e believe that NBC News, data provided by the Department of his experience for the Huffi ngton Post. CBP took advantage of Mr. Ou’s application of Homeland Security shows that searches After the travel ban was imposed in January, for admission to engage in an opportunistic of all travelers' phones by border agents has more journalists found themselves detained. fi shing expedition for sensitive and confi - grown fi vefold in just one year, from fewer BBC journalist Ali Hamedani, a British citizen dential information that Mr. Ou had gathered than 5,000 in 2015 to nearly 25,000 in 2016. born in Iran, live tweeted his detention. He was through his newsgathering activities in Tur- DHS offi cials told the network that 2017 held for two hours on January 29, 2017, and key, Somalia, Iraq and elsewhere.” would be a “blockbuster” year. Some 5,000 said he was subjected to “invasive checks” after

CREDIT: World Press Photo 6 INDEXONCENSORSHIP.ORG US MEDIA FREEDOM INDEX

CASE STUDY Physical violence DALTON BENNETT Dalton Bennett, a video reporter for the Wash- ington Post, has experience covering demon- against journalists strations all over the world, from Greece to the Arab Spring. He was fi lming demonstra- tors on inauguration day when he was pushed over and grabbed by a police offi cer. Most of the protesters were peaceful, he said, but a OST OF THE physical assaults against was making a documentary called FrackNa- smaller group of black bloc protesters were journalists across the country have been tion in favor of fracking. His microphone causing trouble, which was unusual for Wash- Mat demonstrations. For instance, on August 14, was taken away and he was assaulted after he ington DC. At one point during the protest 2016, two reporters were physically attacked asked DAPL protesters about their use of fos- “all hell was breaking loose” and the police by about a dozen people in Milwaukee dur- sil fuels. When McAleer and colleagues went began using pepper spray and stun grenades ing violent demonstrations against the police back to their car, a group of about 30 individ- before kettling the protesters. shooting of Sylville Smith, a black man who uals surrounded the vehicle and the journalists “In the process of getting kettled, we’re fi lm- was killed fl eeing a traffi c stop. The reporters were forced to call the police for help. ing it, which is what a video reporter is sup- necessary, and the city itself has issued a re- were fi lming a BP gas station which had been On November 3, 2016, during “water pro- posed to be doing, and a police offi cer felt that port saying some of its tactics weren’t exactly I was too close, and decided to get me away kosher.” set on fi re by protesters. Their equipment, in- tector” protests over the DAPL at Standing from the situation and so pushed me,” Bennett Bennett doesn’t believe the right to fi lm cluding cameras and satellite packs, was stolen Rock Indian Reservation, journalist and ac- said. “My backpack was being grabbed and protests is under threat in the USA, but he tivist Erin Schrode said she was hit by a rub- I was pushed by another guy and fell to the said: “Inevitably as more and more protests ber bullet from “militarized police” while she ground in the process. I wouldn’t say it was happen across the country, this is a question The only solution is a greater was in the middle of an interview. The impact a concerted eff ort to prevent us from captur- which is going to continue to arise. I think the awareness of both media of the bullet knocked her over. She posted a ing the moment, there were a lot of journalists only solution is a greater awareness of both video of the incident on Facebook. there. I think it was, more than anything, just a media organizations and police departments organizations and police Journalists were also targeted at election police offi cer, just authorities generally caught on the role that the media plays in covering departments protests. In Portland, Oregon, a woman spat up in this ebb and fl ow of the demonstration. I these protests and better practice among in the camera of a news crew covering demon- mean I don’t think it was done out of malice, or media organizations, [understanding] how strations in the early hours of November 9, as to prevent us reporting. That being said, I don’t demonstrations work, how to keep safe cov- and one of the journalists had to go to hospi- the election results were being reported. The think it was necessary at all, it defi nitely wasn’t ering the protest.” tal for an evaluation. At a Black Lives Matter woman, who was an anti-Trump protester, protest, which took place on September 21 in yelled directly into the KOIN 6 News camera Charlotte, Virginia, Mary Sturgill, an anchor held by video journalist Karl Petersen before ordered them to leave the scene. The end of DC on January 20, 2017, also turned vio- for the Columbia, South Carolina, station spitting. the encounter was broadcast live on Fox45. lent. Photographer Vanessa Koolhof, work- WLTX, was tackled by demonstrators and her During separate protests in north Baltimore Daniels reported that this had never happened ing for ABC affiliate news station WJLA, photographer was punched. on the evening of November 9, Fox45 re- to him before. The crowd had told him they was knocked over and injured in the middle On October 18, 2016, in North Dakota, ac- porter Keith Daniels and photographer Ruth did not believe that he would put the “correct of a stand-off near the National Mall when tivists at the Sacred Stone Camp were accused Morton had to be moved to safety by police. narrative” on his coverage. a Trump supporter came into the crowd and of assaulting journalist Phelim McAleer, who An angry crowd had surrounded them and The inauguration protests in Washington police tried to break up scuffl es. She was ➔

CREDIT: Washington Post 7 INDEXONCENSORSHIP.ORG US MEDIA FREEDOM INDEX

➔ slightly injured before being assisted by po- camera from her hands. She had just fi nished lice offi cers. covering a story and was walking back to her There have been other physical incidents car when she was attacked. As a result of these against journalists in the period. For instance, and other robberies, some news organizations a reporter and photographer from NBC6 were in the area have hired security guards to look injured on November 21, 2016, when a man after their journalists and crews. Criminal charges / drove a stolen SUV into the news crew’s car in In Niagara Falls on October 22, a reporter Fort Lauderdale, Florida. In December 2016, a and photographer from the local Buffalo sta- woman accused of faking her own abduction tion WIVB, a CBS affi liate, were cornered in civil lawsuits threatened a reporter from the same TV station an alley by four men with a gun, who asked and shouted at a photographer. She said: “I will them for money and for the camera. The crew knock your ass out. Get that shit out of my was out covering an art installation when they face.” She also threw a rock at another station’s were physically attacked: the photographer crew and was detained by police. She was re- had to go to the hospital and the reporter suf- leased after the crews declined to press charges. fered minor injuries. On October 13, 2016, INCE THE ELECTION of Trump there has Having equipment stolen is an occupational in Bedford County, Virginia, Tim Saunders, a been anxiety around his claims that he hazard in some areas. In two incidents within reporter from local station WDBJ7, was shot Swould loosen US libel laws. At a rally in Fort CASE STUDY a week of each other in the San Francisco East at when he was in the station’s vehicle. A men- Worth, Texas in February 2016 Trump de- Bay area, reporters had their cameras stolen. tally ill 18-year-old was wandering around clared: “I’m going to open up our libel laws so GAWKER In the fi rst incident, on September 19, a fi eld the streets with a rifl e shooting at vehicles and when they write purposely negative and hor- manager from KGO TV had his camera taken knocking on doors before he was arrested. rible and false articles, we can sue them and Gawker went bankrupt and was shut from him at gunpoint by two men in Alameda Saunders was unhurt and no one else was in- win lots of money.” down in August 2016 after a jury in Florida near Robert W Crown Memorial State Beach. jured in the incident. However, current US libel laws have already awarded $140 million in damages against On September 23, Raquel Maria Dillon, a “Journalist safety must be taken extremely led to one news organization, Gawker, closing it for invading the privacy of Hulk Hogan multimedia journalist with NBC Bay Area, seriously by law enforcement. Whether the after a lawsuit alleging the site had invaded by publishing a sex tape of the celebrity was approached by a man who pulled her perpetrators of violence are police offi cers or the privacy of a celebrity. wrestler. The lawsuit was funded by Peter private citizens, violence against journalists, Others, like conservative political commen- Thiel, the co-founder of PayPal. Thiel told cases of robbery or harassment must be inves- tator and television host Glenn Beck, have the Wall Street Journal: “I am supporting Journalist safety must be tigated vigorously and charges fi led promptly found themselves on the receiving end of defa- other people who have been harmed to ensure that a culture of impunity is unable mation suits. Beck, along with other journal- by Gawker, which routinely relied on an taken extremely seriously by to take root,” Mapping Media Freedom's Ma- ists, including commentators from Fox News, expectation that their less wealthy vic- tims would have no legal recourse even chlin said. were sued for the comments they made about law enforcement against clear violations. I do not support a boy who brought a clock to school in a legal actions against any other organiza- suitcase and was arrested in September 2015 tions.” Gawker’s assets were sold out of after it was mistaken for a bomb. The boy bankruptcy to Univision Communications from Irving, Texas, was quickly released, but Inc, and the publishers eventually settled Beck suggested on a show aired by The Blaze with Hogan and others connected with that the clock bomb hoax story was possibly the privacy suit in November 2016. a conspiracy to “turn Texas blue [Democrat]”. The boy’s father fi led a lawsuit. However, a judge ruled on January 9, 2017, that Beck’s Most criminal charges against media profes- free speech was protected under the First sionals have been related to journalists caught Amendment. up in protests, which we have detailed above. ➔

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➔ However, there is another worrying case Chief Judge Brenda Weaver, who presides in States has expressed reservations about the of a publisher from Blue Ridge, Georgia, and the three-county Appalachian Judicial Circuit, draft bill,” Index's Patry said. his attorney, who were arrested on June 24, had urged the district attorney to seek an in- The other pattern that is emerging con- CASE STUDY 2016, for requesting public records. They dictment. Weaver, who was in control of one cerns journalists who, all over the country, were charged with three felonies – identity of those accounts, told The Atlanta Journal- PUBLIC BROADCASTERS are being asked to hand over unpublished fraud, attempted identity fraud and making Constitution she pushed for the case because documents they have used in investigations, a false statement on an open records request “I don’t react well when my honesty is ques- A provision added into the National De- potentially compromising key sources. State – which carries up to 20 years in prison. Fan- tioned.” She was eventually forced to resign. fense Authorization Act signed into law “shield” laws should give legal protections nin Focus publisher, Mark Thomason, said he “US libel law has long been a model on December 23, 2016, has abolished the for journalists, but this principle is being in- was held for two days before being granted for the rest of the world. Lowering the bipartisan board running Voice of Amer- creasingly challenged. In Nashville, Tennes- bail, but only after a $10,000 bond burden of proof or otherwise loosen- ica, Radio Free Europe and other news had been posted. An outcry in the ing restrictions on lawsuits would pose outlets. The board is to be replaced with national press led to the charges a serious threat to press freedom in the a single chief executive appointed by the Even when laws are not being dismissed three weeks later. country. At the same time, the misuse US president. Supporters argue that the intended to restrict access Thomason and attorney Rus- of the criminal justice system to silence change will make the $800 million media sell Stookey were charged in part journalists is a common occurrence operation more effi cient, but critics say it to public information, they because they requested copies of in some European countries. This is will give the president the ability to jeop- can be used to do so checks written on the operating not something that journalists in the ardize the political independence of the operation. accounts of the judge’s office, USA should be exposed to,” Index's “Politically independent public broad- which were “cashed illegally”. Patry said. see, television reporter Phil Williams, who casters are a vital segment of the media reported on the district attorney Glen Funk, landscape at a time of increased propa- was told by a judge on February 2, 2017, ganda. We’ve documented a series of moves by European governments to to hand over key documents. To add fur- nationalize the public media in ways that ther pressure Funk has fi led a $200 million make it more likely to toe the ruling par- defamation suit against the journalist and his ty’s line,” Index's Ginsberg said. employer, News Channel 5. The channel has condemned the actions as “an attempt by an elected public offi cial to silence and intimi- been passed in North Dakota and Montana. date a journalist and news organization that Legal measures Another law, proposed by Utah State Rep- has accurately reported on questionable con- resentative Scott Chew (R) on January 31, duct and judgment by that offi cial”. 2017, to ban drones near livestock – Meanwhile in San Bernardino, Califor- with jail time for those who do nia on January 17, 2017, a judge ruled – has faced criticism. Chew ar- that numerous journalists will have HAT LAWS ARE passed and how the in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to justify with- gues the drones may harass farm to take the stand in a corruption law is interpreted can have an impact holding all information about crime locations, animals. case on which they had report- Won journalists’ ability to report. Even when car accidents and crash victims in the area “Even well-intentioned laws can ed. Prosecutors want them to laws are not intended to restrict access to pub- from journalists, according to a report in the have a deleterious effect on journal- testify on 56 statements con- lic information, they can be used to do so. Argus Leader on December 4, 2016. Journal- ists. In the case of Utah, the proposed tained in stories dating back For instance, the so-called Marsy’s Law, ists and others argue the law states that infor- legislation could penalize reporters 12 years. Journalists fear tak- which protects victims’ rights, has been enact- mation should only be withheld “on request doing investigative pieces around ing the stand because they may ed by some states. Although not its original in- of the victim” and so a blanket ban on infor- animal welfare and food safety. Even be forced under oath to com- tention, the law is being used by police forces mation is not justifi ed. Similar laws have now the Humane Society of the United promise their sources.

9 INDEXONCENSORSHIP.ORG US MEDIA FREEDOM INDEX

CASE STUDY Works censored RICK CASEY

Rick Casey is the host of a show called or altered Texas Week for San Antonio television sta- tion KLRM. At the end of every show he presents a short commentary. On this occa- sion, Republican representative from Texas, Lamar Smith, was on his agenda for giving a speech on January 24, 2017, about the unfair information about works light.” The document details particular cases, HERE IS LITTLE way he believed the media covered Trump. Tcensored during the period we examined. including when “California’s Southwest Col- Smith suggested the only way of getting the This may well be because journalists tend not lege mounted a campaign of intimidation and truth was from the president himself. Casey to report these kinds of incidents out of fear bullying of student journalists – including was so outraged that he ended his commen- of negative repercussions for their career or freezing the newspaper’s printing budget, cut- tary: “Smith’s proposal is quite innovative for because the pressure is more subtle. The case ting the adviser’s salary and even threatening America. We’ve never really tried getting all study below, however, is taken from a New staff members with arrest – as part of an effort our news from our top elected offi cial. It has York Times article from February 17, 2017. to conceal high-level wrongdoing.” There are been tried elsewhere, however. North Korea On university campuses, there were more many other examples given in the report of comes to mind.” Some 40 minutes before published examples of censored works. A re- censorship and intimidation on campus, and the show, the president of the station, Arthur port entitled Threats to the Independence of of media advisers who have lost their jobs or Rojas Emerson, called Casey to tell him the Student Media, published in October 2016 by been demoted as a result commentary had been pulled. the American Association of University of not exercising Emerson said he enough censor- was wor- ship. ried that Journalists tend not to report the com- mentary Emerson had left journalism for several years these incidents out of fear could to work in advertising and Smith had been of negative repercussions affect the fi- a client. After the aff air was publicized in a nancing of the local newspaper column, another prominent station, which is local journalist took Casey’s censored com- publicly funded mentary up with the PBS board and Emerson Professors and others, explains by the Corpora- fi nally agreed to run the clip. He admitted to how “college and university offi - tion for Public the Times it was a “mistake”, but he only had cials threatened retaliation against Broadcasting. 20 minutes to make a decision. Casey is 70 students and [media] advisers not It was also the years old and said that he was more ready only for coverage critical of the case, as The to push back because of his age. He said he administration but also for oth- New York didn’t know whether he would have acted erwise frivolous coverage that the Times re- diff erently at 45, when it could have aff ected administrators believed placed ported, that his career. the institution in an unfl attering

10 INDEXONCENSORSHIP.ORG US MEDIA FREEDOM INDEX

offi ce said it was charging local newspaper, the newspaper published an article critical of the Wyoming Tribune Eagle, $1,800 to fulfi ll Trump’s comments about shootings at a gay a public records request put in on October 31, nightclub in Orlando, Florida. 2016, concerning state troopers deployed to Trump declared The New York Times cov- Blocked access the Dakota Access Pipeline protests. erage of him “very dishonest” at a campaign “Imposing expensive fees to fulfi ll public rally in Columbus, Ohio, on August 1, 2016 records requests can deter investigative jour- and suggested he could take away their ac- LOCKING ACCESS TO events, places and to local politicians. nalism, especially for publications already creditation too. – more crucially – information is a way of On October 11, 2016, Baltimore Mayor struggling for funding in a shifting media By September 7, 2016, Trump and his team Bgovernment, lawmakers and others prevent- Stephanie Rawlings-Blake (D) banned Kenneth landscape,” Machlin said. changed their tactics and lifted the ban on ing journalists in the USA from covering their Burns, a WYPR radio reporter, from her weekly Reporters have been prevented from accessing news organizations attending his rallies. How- activities. press briefi ngs based on allegations of “verbally information held by public bodies that relate to ever, this meant reporters attending could be “Mapping Media Freedom has documented and physically threatening behavior,” because President Trump. On January 31, 2017, News- penned and harangued by the crowds. a growing list of incidents from across Europe she did not like his aggressive questioning at week national security correspondent Jeffrey Since Trump won the election, CNN, in par- and neighboring countries where journalists her small regular meetings with the press. Stein fi led a federal complaint because he was ticular, has been targeted by the administration have been barred from reporting in the public On January 12, 2017, The New York Times not allowed to see documents that detail the and questions from the network’s reporters interest. Though this survey looked at a small petitioned the New York State Executive De- process by which Trump aides are vetted. Stein have been refused at press conferences. In a fur- number of cases in the context of the American partment for the right to see public records re- argued, for example, that three of Trump’s chil- media market, we expect there were many more lating to a billion-dollar development scandal dren and Rex Tillerson, the new US Secretary of Press organizations were banned cases during the same period that were not re- in Buffalo. The newspaper accused New York State, had extensive business ties to foreign na- ported by the media or located by our research- Governor Andrew Cuomo’s (D) offi ce of repeat- tions that normally would raise clearance alarms. and their accreditation canceled ers,” Mapping Media Freedom's Machlin said. edly stonewalling attempts to see the documents Stein explained that these requests sought “all arbitrarily Reporters have recently been blocked from relating to a lobbyist and one of his aides. records, including emails, about any steps taken covering the airport protests over the travel Courthouse News Service has documented to investigate or authorise (or discussions about ban in January 2017. Time journalist Char- the challenges they have encountered get- potentially investigating or authorising) [15 indi- ther escalation of these tactics, an off-camera lotte Alter tweeted early on January 28, 2017, ting information from court clerks about viduals] for access to classifi ed information.” press conference on February 24, 2017, organ- that reporters were asked to move from termi- the scheduling of civil cases, including multi- Other journalists reported they were not al- ized by press secretary Sean Spicer, was held nal 4 of JFK airport in New York because it million dollar lawsuits. The news service won lowed to examine documents that Trump piled without outlets such as The New York Times, was a “private space”. a First Amendment case against the clerk in up on a table at a widely publicized press con- Politico, CNN, BuzzFeed and the BBC. This ex- Later that same day, the Council on Ameri- Manhattan’s state court in mid-December ference on January 11. Trump said the papers clusion of a good proportion of the media came can-Islamic relations barred a Breitbart News 2016, which granted them access to newly detailed how he was divesting himself from despite Spicer’s previous assurances to White reporter, Neil Munro, from one of its press fi led civil cases. his business interests. House journalists that bans, such as those im- conferences where it criticized the travel ban. The service also launched a First Amend- posed during the Trump campaign, would not On January 10, 2017, Texas Congressman ment case in Santa Ana, California, on Janu- Blocked from Trump’s campaign and happen once Trump was in the White House. Louie Gohmert (R) prevented a photojournal- ary 24, 2017, against a similar policy brought White House briefi ngs “Picking media outlets friendly to the coun- ist from taking pictures of protesters during in by Orange County’s county court clerk. During the presidential election campaign, nu- try’s government is a tactic often deployed in attorney general nominee Jeff Sessions’ con- “Having access to this information is impor- merous press organizations were banned and illiberal democracies or by political parties on fi rmation hearings. Back in his home state of tant for journalists, because without knowing their accreditation cancelled arbitrarily. Targeted the far-right, like France’s Front National or Texas in January, at about the same time, the what cases are being scheduled, they cannot organizations included Politico, BuzzFeed, the Germany’s AfD. In the context of Mapping Senate ruled to stop journalists wandering the cover them. And without general access, plain- Huffi ngton Post, Univision and the Des Moines Media Freedom, the Trump administration fl oor and doing interviews. This was justifi ed tiff’s lawyers are then able to leak cases to Register. In June 2016, the Washington Post and staffers have repeatedly and routinely in the name of order and propriety but is seen friendly news outlets,” Machlin said. had its credentials canceled. Trump accused the threatened press freedom before and after the by Texan reporters as a way of blocking access In Wyoming, the highway patrol records Post of being “dishonest” and “phony” after election,” Machlin said.

11 INDEXONCENSORSHIP.ORG US MEDIA FREEDOM INDEX

were routinely jeered and intimidated. His campaign rallies frequently became places where the media and journalists in CASE STUDY general were accused of being part of a broad Intimidation conspiracy against him and his supporters. ALTERNATIVE FACTS During a weekend in mid-August 2016 when his poll numbers were dropping, Trump went The argument over the size of the crowd on the offensive against media bias. On Fri- at Trump’s inauguration dominated the day August 12, at a rally in Erie, Pennsylva- fi rst few days of Trump’s presidency. On nia, Trump called journalists the “lowest form a visit to the CIA headquarters on his fi rst of humanity”. At a rally the following day full day in offi ce, he called journalists “the in Fairfi eld, Connecticut, he declared: “I am most dishonest people on earth” for say- not running against crooked Hillary Clinton, ing that he had attacked the agency dur- I’m running against the crooked media.” On ing his campaign. He also derided media Sunday August 14, he issued a series of tweets reports, which showed far fewer attend- including claims that the biased media was af- ees at his inauguration ceremony than fecting his poll ratings and that The New York the 1.5 million he claimed. Sean Spicer Times wrote fi ction. later held his fi rst press conference in the In October 2016, when reporters uncov- briefi ng room of the West Wing, where ered stories about Trump’s abusive behavior he said that news organizations had de- towards women, his public attacks on the liberately under-estimated the size of the “mainstream media” intensifi ed. crowd, which was allegedly “the largest in history”, in order to sow disarray when At one large rally of 15,000 supporters Trump was trying to unify the country. in Cincinnati, Ohio on October 14, Trump Spicer threatened the media by saying claimed that Hillary Clinton and her cam- the new administration would “hold the paign “control the mainstream media” and press accountable”. Kellyanne Conway use it “quite viciously”. The New York Times appeared on the media the next day to NTIMIDATION IS PROBABLY the most wide- European countries. Though it remains to be described how the organizers penned in jour- say that Sean Spicer wasn’t lying when Ily reported form of violation against press seen whether this trend will continue at an nalists behind metal barriers at the same rally he claimed that Trump’s inauguration and media freedom. It takes various forms alarming rate in the United States, it is cer- and then got the crowd to boo, insult and fl ip drew the largest crowd in history. Rather, of offl ine and online harassment, including tainly something for press freedom organiza- middle fi ngers at them. he was presenting “alternative facts”. defamation, psychological abuse and sexual tions to be alert to,” Index's Patry said. Trump’s public personal attacks on journal- harassment. Much of the most prominent intimidation ists were virulent during the same period. He “As we have seen increasingly in Europe, has come from both Trump and his aides singled out Katy Tur, a reporter for NBC, at a Twitter, while holding the offi ce of president. groundless, derogatory and corrosive com- during the presidential campaign, after his November 2 rally in front of a crowd of 4,000 Trump devoted a whole press conference on ments by a country’s leaders – specifi cally in election and after his inauguration. This in- people. He blamed her for under-reporting the February 17 to berating the media as “the Hungary, Russia and the Balkans – have a timidation and harassment has also been size of the crowd. It was the third time he had enemy of the people”, a phrase news organi- tendency to permeate into law enforcement mirrored by people who appear to be his intimidated her at one of his rallies. zations reported is more commonly associated and local administrations, and undermine supporters. with Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and other dic- trust in media coverage among the general Trump after he won the presidency tators throughout history. Since his election, public. In addition, the use of pro-govern- Trump and supporters before the After Trump’s election, intimidation of the Trump’s offi cial spokespeople, most notably ment media outlets to target journalists election media changed, in part because he was mak- Sean Spicer and Kellyanne Conway, have been further undermines press freedom in some During Trump’s election campaign, journalists ing the comments personally, often through brought more prominently into the frame. ➔

CREDIT: US Park Service 12 INDEXONCENSORSHIP.ORG US MEDIA FREEDOM INDEX

used “fake news”, have been the catchphrases elements of the internet to harass and intimi- happen if he arbitrarily decided to carry out of the Trump administration to describe news date. Kelly said that she received death threats some form of military action. Two days later stories they do not like, or that challenge state- and has had to employ armed security. she was accused by Trump-friendly Infowars CASE STUDY ments they have made. Trump also uses the On January 31, Rosa Brooks, a professor of inciting a military coup. Although Brooks BERATING THE PRESS phrase generally to discredit news organiza- of law at Georgetown University, wrote in said that she had concerns about the way ex- tions and claim they never report the truth. In Foreign Policy magazine about threats Trump ecutive power was used under Obama, the in- Even before Trump was inaugurated, his one instance, Trump accused CNN on Twitter poses to the US Constitution, and what would timidation she has received – including death supporters berated the press. Texas Con- of cutting off Senator Bernie Sanders (D) be- threats – for suggesting the dangers under gressman Randy Weber (R) tweeted on cause he was exposing the fact they reported Trump, went far beyond anything that had January 12 that Jim Acosta, CNN’s White fake news. Sanders was in fact doing the op- happened before. She wrote: “Here’s the other House correspondent, should be fi red posite, joking about Trump’s tendency to dis- thing that’s different now: The alt-right has and prohibited from press conferences. miss any negative reports as “fake news”. CASE STUDY long occupied the internet’s darker corners, Kellyanne Conway also said in an inter- ANTI-SEMITISM but with the elevation of Bannon to the Trump view on January 29 that journalists who White House and National Security Council, showed bias against Trump during the it’s now occupying the White House itself.” In October 2016, the Anti-Defamation campaign should be fi red. League published a report entitled The Anti-Semitic Targeting of Journalists Dur- The words most frequently used ing the 2016 Presidential Campaign. One ➔ Both have repeatedly attacked journalists of its key fi ndings was that 800 journal- in anti-Semitic tweets directed and defended lies told by the president. Con- ists received anti-Semitic tweets with an way has gone so far as to say in an interview estimated reach of 45 million. The top at journalists included “kike”, with Fox News on January 27, 2017, that it 10 most targeted journalists (all of whom “Israel” and “Zionist” was “dangerous for democracy” for journal- were Jewish) received 83% of those ists to accuse Donald Trump of lying. anti-Semitic tweets. The report found the Other Trump administration staffers have In a series of tweets from his personal ac- abuse got worse as the presidential cam- Some of the most virulent harassment cases also threatened journalists. In February 2017, count, Trump has called some of the USA’s paign intensifi ed in the period between have been against conservatives like Kelly reporter April Ryan accused Trump staffer major news organizations “failing” and pur- January and July 2016. The words most who did not support Trump. On October 26, Omarosa Manigault of physically intimidat- veyors of “fake news”, including the Wash- frequently used in anti-Semitic tweets 2016, David French, who writes for the con- ing her. Ryan, a onetime friend of Manigault’s, ington Post, The New York Times, NBC news, directed at journalists included “kike”, “Is- servative publication National Review, told also said the communications offi cial made CNN and ABC. rael” and “Zionist”. A majority of tweets National Public Radio program Fresh Air how (60%) were in reply to tweets by journal- verbal threats, including the assertion that The other way that Trump and people he was targeted. He wrote an article about the ists. Writer and former Breitbart reporter Ryan was among several journalists on whom speaking on his behalf have tried to intimidate alt-right movement being white nationalist in Ben Shapiro, who was on the receiving Trump offi cials had collected “dossiers of neg- the media is to call for the sacking of individ- its tone and tenor and found himself and his end of vast amounts of abuse for launch- ative information”. ual journalists. The most prominent calls have wife bombarded with hateful tweets and mes- ing the #NeverTrump campaign, told ADL: “Collecting ‘dossiers’ about journalists is the come from members of congress and Trump “It’s amazing what’s been unleashed. sages, including an image of his seven-year- type of tactic practiced in countries like Azer- aides. I honestly didn’t realize they were out old child, who was adopted from Ethiopia, in baijan, which routinely targets anyone trying there. It’s every day, every single day.” a gas chamber. He said it was his linking of to hold the regime to account. The US execu- Online harassment Despite Shapiro’s eff orts to shield his Trump and the alt-right that specifi cally led to tive branch should not be seeking to emulate Online harassment is a growing problem for family from the abuse, his wife and child his family being subjected to anti-Semitic, rac- the behaviors of some of the world’s most journalists. On December 5, 2016, Fox News were targeted as well. “When my child ist and pornographic abuse. authoritarian regimes,” Index on Censorship host Megyn Kelly accused the president’s so- was born there were lots of anti-Semitic French received anti-Semitic abuse despite CEO Jodie Ginsberg said. cial media director Dan Scavino of being di- responses talking about cockroaches.” not being Jewish. The abuse against Jewish “Alternative facts”, or the more frequently rectly responsible for stirring up the nastier journalists has been more systematic.

13 INDEXONCENSORSHIP.ORG US MEDIA FREEDOM

• Frontline police services – as well • States need to enact strong as journalists – should be clear shield laws to protect on the rights of protesters and journalists from having to those covering demonstrations, reveal sources. This is vital rallies and other public events especially in cases involving and receive regular training whistleblowing in the public in this area. It is also vital that interest. journalists are aware of these rights when covering such • State lawmakers need to CONCLUSIONS events. ensure that that new or revised legislation does not encroach • Police forces must adhere on the First Amendment rights to Freedom of Information of journalists. Where necessary, laws. All levels of government laws should have a public Though our review of incidents represents just a short period of time, it points to areas should work to minimize fees interest clause that could be that journalists and law enforcement, as well as the country’s political establishment, associated with FOI requests. used by journalists. need to improve • Customs and Border Protection • Harassment and crimes against officials should respect the journalists that go beyond rights of journalists to protect protections offered by the First confidential information and Amendment – whether online cease immediately the invasive or off – must be investigated examination of people’s online and prosecuted vigorously to activity at the border. prevent the establishment of a culture of impunity.

14 INDEXONCENSORSHIP.ORG SPECIAL REPORT | MAY 2017