A PUBLICATION OF THE SILHA CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF MEDIA ETHICS AND LAW | WINTER/SPRING 2017 Media Face Several Challenges During President Trump’s First Months in Office n Jan. 20, 2017, Donald Trump was inaugurated event held earlier in 2016. “I think the political press is as the 45th president of the United States. among the most dishonest people that I have ever met, During the early months of his administration, I have to tell you. I see the stories, and I see the way President Trump took several actions that they’re couched,” Trump said, while also promising that raised concerns among journalists and press he would continue to be combative with the press if he Oadvocates. Specifically, press advocates argued that the were elected. The Trump campaign also regularly barred Trump administration was taking deliberate steps to cast news organizations from covering events when it believed doubt on the legitimacy of the American press. Additionally, that press coverage had been unfavorable. Several news President Trump stated several times that he was unhappy organizations found themselves “blacklisted” from events with the scale of government leaks, suggesting that he might when the Trump campaign refused to provide their reporters take actions to crack down on whistleblowers. However, the with press credentials, including The Washington Post, Trump administration seemed to back away quickly from The Des Moines Register, Politico, The Daily Beast, The investigations into a pseudonymous Twitter account of a Huffington Post, Buzzfeed, and Univision, among others. person claiming to be a federal employee after the social (For more information on then-candidate Trump’s conflicts media company filed a lawsuit that claimed the investigation with the press, see “2016 Presidential Candidates Present was violating basic First Amendment principles. Challenges for Free Expression” in the Summer 2016 issue of the Silha Bulletin, and “American Bar Association Expresses President Trump Continues Longstanding Battles Concerns over Publishing Report Calling Donald Trump a with the Press ‘Libel Bully’” in the Fall 2016 issue.) In the initial months of his presidency in 2016, President Once sworn in, President Trump and his administration Donald Trump and his administration continued to feud with appeared willing to continue squaring off against the press outlets, which had been a hallmark of his presidential press in a variety of ways. On Jan. 21, 2017, The New York campaign. Then-Republican candidate Trump made several Times reported that battles immediately began on the day statements and took actions that raised concerns among free following the inauguration when both President Trump and press advocates. In February 2016, Trump told supporters at White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer accused news a rally that he would seek to change libel laws in the United organizations of deliberately reporting false information States if he were elected president. “One of the things I’m about the size of the crowds attending the inauguration. going to do if I win . I’m going to open up our libel laws Several news organizations published side-by-side photos so when they write purposely negative and horrible and that compared the size of the crowd attending President false articles, we can sue them and win lots of money,” Barack Obama’s first inauguration ceremony in 2008 with Trump said, according to a March 1 story by PolitiFact. the size of the crowd at President Trump’s ceremonies. The Critics argued that Trump appeared fundamentally to photos showed that crowd sizes appeared to be much larger misunderstand libel laws, noting that libel is in the domain at President Obama’s inauguration. of state law and there was no federal libel law. A later report Both President Trump and Spicer also accused news titled “Donald J. Trump is A Libel Bully But Also A Libel organizations of falsely reporting that the president had Loser” by First Amendment attorney Susan Seager suggested removed a bust of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, that Trump had a history of filing libel lawsuits against his Jr. from the White House Oval Office. On January 20, critics, but he had either lost or withdrawn nearly all of Zeke Miller, the White House correspondent for Time them. magazine, published a post on Twitter that the bust had been During a May 2016 news conference, Trump called removed, which was then reported by several other news reporters “dishonest,” “not good people,” and among organizations. However, the bust had not been removed and “the worst human beings” he has ever met after news Miller had simply not seen it behind a secret service agent. organizations pushed for more specific details about claims Upon realizing the mistake, Miller e-mailed a correction to that he had raised $5.6 million for military veterans at an Challenges, continued on page 3 Inside This Issue Winter/Spring 2017: Volume 22, No. 2 1 Media Face Several Challenges During President Trump’s 32 Federal Government, Minnesota Court of Appeals Address First Months in Office Data Privacy Issues Cover Story Data Privacy 9 Ethical Questions Debated after Buzzfeed Publishes 35 British Press and Reform Advocates Continue to Battle Dossier Containing Controversial Unverified Claims about over Questions of Regulation President Trump International News Media Ethics 40 Minnesota and New York Consider Media Law Questions 11 President Obama Commutes Chelsea Manning’s Sentence, Involving the Internet and Privacy Pardons Gen. James E. Cartwright, Takes No Action on State Law Updates Edward Snowden 45 Congress Revives Legislation to Permit Cameras in National Security Supreme Court, Federal Courts 14 Neil Gorsuch Sworn in as Newest Supreme Court Justice Cameras in Courtrooms Supreme Court News 47 Backpage Closes Adult Content Section after Government Scrutiny 16 WikiLeaks Publishes Documents Revealing CIA Hacking Online Speech Tools, Faces Government Blowback National Security 49 Silha Center Spring Forum Addresses Ethical Challenges Related to Fake News 22 New FCC Chairman Signals Change in Direction for Agency Silha Center Events FCC 27 Filmmaker and Journalists Face Subpoena Threats, Newsroom Searches, and Orders to Testify Reporter’s Privilege SILHA CENTER STAFF JANE E. KIRTLEY SILHA CENTER DIRECTOR AND SILHA PROFESSOR OF MEDIA ETHICS AND LAW CASEY CARMODY SILHA BULLETIN EDITOR SCOTT MEMMEL SILHA RESEARCH ASSISTANT RONALD WACLAWSKI SILHA RESEARCH ASSISTANT ELAINE HARGROVE SILHA CENTER STAFF 2 Challenges, continued from page 1 enemy of the American people. SICK!” President Trump quickly deleted the post, only to publish a revised version other White House reporters, issued a correction on Twitter, in which he added ABC and CBS to the “enemies list” and and apologized for making the mistake. struck “SICK!” from the post. The posts came one day after The Washington Post reported on January 21 that the president held a lengthy, unscripted press conference President Trump, speaking at the Central Intelligence at the White House in which he addressed several early Agency (CIA) headquarters, used one of his first public controversies in his administration, blamed President appearances in office to castigate the press over their Obama for leaving a “mess” of the government, and again reporting on the size of the crowd at the inauguration. declared that news organizations were “dishonest.” Specifically, President Trump said that news organizations had falsely reported that only 250,000 people attended his inauguration and that the National Mall had broad swaths of “It is quite clear that this administration empty areas. The president explained that from his position will make whatever representations during the inauguration, it appeared that at least one million it wants to on its impression and people had attended the ceremonies. “It’s a lie,” Trump said of the news media reports. “We caught interpretation of the news and drive that [the media]. We caught them in a COVER STORY right back at the news media if it thinks beauty.” it is being unfair or inflicting damage on Later on January 21, Spicer held a contentious press conference at the White House to criticize the image this White House wants to the press about reports on crowd sizes and the Martin display.” Luther King, Jr. bust. “Yesterday, at a time when our nation and the world was watching the peaceful transition of power — Major Barrett, and, as the President said, the transition and the balance of CBS News White House correspondent power from Washington to the citizens of the United States, some members of the media were engaged in deliberately false reporting,” Spicer said. “This was the largest audience Members of the press expressed alarm and anger to ever witness an inauguration — period — both in person over President Trump’s claims that they were reporting and around the globe. Even The New York Times printed a falsehoods and should be viewed as enemies. In a February photograph showing a misrepresentation of the crowd in the 17 interview with The New York Times, former Washington original Tweet in their paper, which showed the full extent of Post reporter Carl Bernstein said that President Trump’s the support, depth in crowd, and intensity that existed.” comments were reminiscent of former President Richard “There’s been a lot of talk in the media about the Nixon’s thoughts on the press. Bernstein’s reporting with responsibility to hold Donald Trump accountable. And I’m the Post in the early 1970s helped uncover scandals related here to tell you that it goes two ways,” Spicer added. “We’re to President Nixon and had been credited as a key factor going to hold the press accountable, as well. The American that led toward the controversial president’s resignation. people deserve better. And as long as he serves as the “Oh boy. Donald Trump is demonstrating an authoritarian messenger for this incredible movement, he will take his attitude and inclination that shows no understanding of the message directly to the American people where his focus role of the free press,” Bernstein said.