Letter Protests Arrest of Journalists; Excessive Force
Oct. 25, 2017 – The NewsGuild-CWA has joined the Committee to Protect Journalists and 17 other organizations in writing to the mayor of St. Louis to express concern about the arrest and mistreatment of journalists covering protests in the city in recent weeks. Continue reading “Press Freedom Groups Send ‘Letter of Concern’ to St. Louis Mayor”
Oct. 17, 2017 – The NewsGuild-CWA joined the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and other organizations in filing a friend-of-the-court brief challenging the constitutionality of the national security letter (NSL) statute, which grants the FBI the power to demand customer records from electronic communication service providers and impose gag orders banning providers from disclosing any details of the NSLs they receive.
Oct. 11, 2017 – The NewsGuild-CWA joined 48 media organizations in filing a friend-of-the-court brief on Oct. 6 in support of a New York Times reporter who is seeking to quash a subpoena for her testimony and notes from a jailhouse interview with Conrado Juarez, who is on trial for the murder of “Baby Hope.” The reporter, Frances Robles, is a member of The NewsGuild-CWA’s New York chapter, The NewsGuild of New York.
September 2017 – Members of The NewsGuild-CWA are continuing to stand up for reporters and press freedom through the Right to Report project, even as President Trump amps up his attacks on both.
The president’s war on the media gained steam throughout the summer, beginning with his decision to retweet a 28-second video that depicted him beating up CNN and ending with him questioning journalists’ patriotism at a 2020 campaign rally in Phoenix.
“Trump’s attacks on journalists are straight out of the authoritarian playbook,” said NewsGuild-CWA President Bernie Lunzer. “His goal is to delegitimize the press; distort the truth; deny the American people access to information, and distract from news he doesn’t like. Continue reading “Guild Members Stand Up for ‘Right to Report’”
September 2017 – Charges were dropped in September against a radio reporter who was arrested after he persisted in asking questions of Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price in a hallway at the West Virginia Capitol. Continue reading “Victory: Charges Dropped”
September 2017 – The Pacific News Media Guild is protesting the treatment of a freelance photographer and union member who was roughed up by police as she covered a protest outside a Berkeley City Council meeting in June. Continue reading “Freelance Guild Photographer Roughed Up by Police”
Sept. 20, 2017 – Among the most notable threats to press freedom during the week of Sept. 11-17: Journalists were detained during weekend protests in St. Louis and the White House called for an ESPN reporter to be fired after she posted tweets calling President Trump a white supremacist. That’s according to Reporters Without Borders. Read more here.