Dear Friend of Press Freedom:We’re doubling up on webinars next week — read more below, and register for both. Plus, police in Oregon responded to a simple public records request with invoices for over $2.5 million. And a new lawsuit reveals that the feds scoured journalist Tim Burke’s Google and Twitter accounts after raiding his home back in 2023 and that — as with this year’s raid of the Washington Post’s Hannah Natanson — they failed to tell the judge about the Privacy Protection Act of 1980.
Paramount’s ‘independent’ editorial boardThe settlement between state attorneys general and Paramount was approved this week. That clears the way for the company’s merger with Warner Bros. and takeover of CNN, which the Wall Street Journal has reported Paramount CEO David Ellison and his dad, centibillionaire Oracle cofounder Larry, promised to overhaul in negotiations with President Donald Trump. The deal mandates that Paramount create an editorial independence board to oversee CNN and CBS, which, postmerger, will both fall under David Ellison’s control.Join us Monday, Oct. 5, at 1 p.m. ET for a webinar with journalists Mariel Garza, Bill Grueskin, Margaret Sullivan, and Dick Tofel to hear about the threats to editorial independence they’ve confronted, whether independent editorial boards do anything to help, and whether having attorneys generals and judges mandate editorial standards just recreates the problem the Paramount board was intended to solve — government officials meddling with the news.
Register for the panel here
Journalists: Keep your devices safe while reporting on the midtermsA day after that webinar, we’ll have another one: On Tuesday, Oct. 6, at 2 p.m. ET, Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) and the U.S. Journalist Assistance Network will host a discussion for journalists on securing their daily workflows and communications while working in the field during the 2026 election season. Bring questions about protecting your devices and data while keeping them available and secure for daily reporting, sensitive investigations, on-the-ground fieldwork, and more.
Register for the webinar here
Outrageous FOIA fee bullying in Oregon“How much does it cost to get more information about a cop who punched someone in the face?If you guessed anything lower than $2.5 million, you’d be wrong — at least according to the city of Eugene, Oregon.”In our latest article in partnership with The Intercept, Daniel Ellsberg Chair on Government Secrecy Lauren Harper discusses the Eugene Police Department’s bad faith response to a records request from Double Sided Media. If a police department can afford and understand surveillance tech like Flock cameras, they can figure out a way to run simple public record searches without threatening to bankrupt small local news outlets that want transparency.
Read Harper’s article
DOJ ignores journalist shield law, againFlorida journalist Tim Burke is suing the government over the 2023 raid of his home newsroom and the recently revealed searches of his Google and Twitter accounts. At the center of his lawsuit is the Privacy Protection Act, which specifically limits searches of journalists’ materials — and which the Justice Department failed to mention in its requests to search his accounts, as well as in cases involving multiple other journalists, across administrations. The government later indicted Burke on computer fraud and wiretapping charges, although the latter have been dismissed (prosecutors may reindict him on those charges).FPF Senior Adviser Caitlin Vogus explains why the PPA is so important, and what can be done to fix the DOJ’s unlawful omissions.
Read Vogus’ article here
More DOJ wrongdoing in Don Lemon and Georgia Fort caseEven more DOJ misconduct has been revealed in the ongoing federal prosecution of journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort, stemming from their coverage of a protest against immigration authorities in Minnesota in January. Examples (aside from the frivolous charges themselves) include failed YouTube search warrants and newly revealed misuse of administrative subpoenas.FPF’s Vogus breaks down what’s going on with these subpoenas and what journalists should do if they’re targeted by them.
Read Vogus’ article here
New bill targets government surveillance of its criticsIn some good news, a new bipartisan bill aims to curtail the government’s creative targeting of journalist phone records. The Subpoena Abuse Prevention Act would require the government to make its case to a judge to get records rather than using subpoenas to spy on Americans for their speech or other constitutionally protected activities. Watch FPF Executive Director Trevor Timm explain the bill here.
Tell your congressmember to support SAPA
A press freedom win for international studentsIn September, we hosted an online panel about a recent court victory striking down the government’s basis for deportations of international students based on their speech, and what this decision means for journalists and their sources. Watch the panel to hear from Conor Fitzpatrick at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, former immigration judge Marium Uddin, and the ACLU’s Esha Bhandari, who represented then-Tufts graduate student Rümeysa Öztürk.
Watch a video of the panel
Board member John Cusack brings the Penlight Prize to late night! Winner announced on Oct. 15.
“The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” via YouTube
What we’re reading
Nicaraguan journalist released from ICE custody
U.S. Press Freedom Tracker
We’re relieved that journalist Luis Galeano was released last weekend after spending 12 days in U.S. immigration detention. Galeano has an asylum application pending in the U.S., filed in 2019 after fleeing political persecution for his journalism in Nicaragua. But his case is not over yet.
New Orleans judge files police complaint against CBS affiliate over reporting
The Guardian
We’ve repeatedly pointed out that Daniel’s Law and similar statutes restricting disclosure of information about public officials could become tools for censoring journalism. This is a perfect (and awful) example. It’s every bit as bad as we warned.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore questions Trump on press access as critics cite his own limits
WBFF
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore is criticizing Trump’s anti-press media bans while reportedly using a personal defamation case by a media executive as an excuse to send unrelated press inquiries into a legal review black hole.
US Justice Department files complaint against Minnesota judges who gave interviews about immigration surge
Reuters
Judges do nothing wrong by speaking to the press to help the public understand what’s happening in our courts. This is a brazen attempt to bully judges into silence.
Data from 911 calls at ICE detention centers must be disclosed under new California law
CalMatters
In a huge win for government transparency and accountability, California’s Senate Bill 423 was signed into law this week. This critical information will cast light on how Immigration and Customs Enforcement is treating people it holds. Congrats to the coalition of advocates who made this possible.
Witnesses recount Christa Pike’s survival of two lethal injections
The Guardian
Journalists witnessed a botched execution in Tennessee and did their job by telling the public about it. But Tennessee is fighting to stop the press from witnessing every stage of an execution, in a lawsuit brought by The Associated Press. Nothing to hide, right?
