Tag: journalists

New EU Media “Freedom Law” Allows for Journalist Arrests if Justified by “Public Interest”

The European Union’s “European Media Freedom Act” became binding law across all member states on August 8, but behind its name lies a set of provisions that could restrict the very freedoms it claims to safeguard.

We obtained a copy of the act for you here.

Alongside language about protecting reporters, the regulation authorizes arrests, sanctions, and surveillance of journalists whenever authorities say it serves an “overriding reason in the general interest.”

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, hailed the legislation’s arrival on social media, saying, “A free and independent press is an essential pillar of our democracy. With our European Media Freedom Act, we want to improve their protection. This allows journalists to continue their important work safely and without disruption or intimidation.”

Although the law outlines protections such as prohibiting spyware or coercion to expose sources, those assurances are undercut by built-in loopholes.

Governments can bypass them if their actions are allowed under national or EU law and deemed proportionate to a vaguely defined “general interest.”

That permission extends to intrusive surveillance technologies in cases tied to crimes carrying a maximum prison term of three years or more, a list that ranges from terrorism and human trafficking to offenses labeled as “racism and xenophobia.”

The legislation also orders each country to maintain registers of media owners and addresses. It targets so-called “disinformation,” accusing some media outlets of manipulating the single market to spread falsehoods.

Large online platforms are portrayed as choke points for access to news, blamed for fueling polarization.

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Israeli Strike on Tent in Gaza Kills Five Al Jazeera Journalists

An Israeli airstrike on Sunday night targeted a tent outside the gates of the al-Shia Hospital in Gaza City and killed five Al Jazeera journalists, including 28-year-old Anas al-Sharif, a well-known reporter who had a large following on X.

Al Jazeera said that the other four journalists killed in the bombing were correspondent Mohammed Qreiqeh and three cameramen: Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal, and Moamen Aliwa. Two other people were also killed in the bombing.

Just minutes before he was killed, al-Sharif said in a post on X that Israel was escalating its bombing of Gaza City. “Relentless bombardment,” he wrote. “For two hours, the Israeli aggression has intensified on Gaza City.”

The Israeli military acknowledged that it deliberately targeted al-Sharif, claiming that he was a “Hamas terrorist” who “posed as an Al Jazeera journalist.” Last month, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued a warning about the Israeli military’s smears against Sharif, saying it was likely a precursor to his assassination.

“We are deeply alarmed by the repeated threats made by Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee against Al Jazeera’s Gaza correspondent Anas al-Sharif and call on the international community to protect him,” said CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah.

“This is not the first time Al-Sharif has been targeted by the Israeli military, but the danger to his life is now acute. Israel has killed at least six Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza during this war. These latest unfounded accusations represent an effort to manufacture consent to kill al-Sharif,” Qudah added.

In a post on X at the time, al-Sharif responded to the Israeli smears against him. “I reaffirm: I, Anas al-Sharif, am a journalist with no political affiliations. My only mission is to report the truth from the ground — as it is, without bias,” he said. “At a time when a deadly famine is ravaging Gaza, speaking the truth has become, in the eyes of the occupation, a threat.”

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Case closed after ‘Russian disinfo’ claims led to persecution of NZ journalist

Until two years ago, Mick Hall was a fairly obscure journalist publishing wire copy for Radio New Zealand (RNZ), far-removed from media capitals like Washington and London where international opinions are shaped. But in June 2023, Hall suddenly became the target of Five Eyes intelligence agencies when he was accused by Western sources – including his own employer – of inserting “Russian disinformation” into wire stories. 

What started with a dispute of Hall’s copy edits turned into an investigation by New Zealand’s Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS), which briefed top government officials about its probe. For months afterward, major Western media outlets fretted that Kremlin agents had infiltrated New Zealand’s national broadcaster.

But Hall insisted he had been unfairly accused and defamed by a pro-war element driven into the throes of paranoia by the Ukraine proxy war. In November 2024, he lodged a formal complaint against the NZSIS, demanding to know whether Wellington’s primary intelligence service “acted lawfully and properly” and followed “correct procedure” in its investigation, and if any information gathered about him “was shared appropriately, including with overseas partners.”

On April 9, New Zealand’s intelligence watchdog, the Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS), published the results of the investigation triggered by Hall’s complaint. The Inspector General report noted its investigation lasted between June 10 and August 11 2023, and was closed due to “no concerns of foreign interference” being identified.

The Inspector General acknowledged the intelligence services’ probe was initiated purely due to public “allegations [emphasis added] of foreign interference,” rather than substantive evidence of any kind, and expressed sympathy that Hall found it “disconcerting to discover” he had “come to the attention of an intelligence agency…particularly as a journalist reporting on conflicts where different views can validly be expressed.” However, it concluded NZSIS’ actions were “necessary and proportionate”, and the agency acted “lawful [sic] and properly.”

Hall’s name had been cleared, but he had been denied any recompense for being smeared as a Kremlin agent, and having his career in national media effectively destroyed.

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Israeli Journalist Explains Trump’s ‘Fabulous’ Response to Israeli Strikes on Iran

President Donald Trump took a page straight from the Iranian diplomatic playbook when he claimed the United States had nothing to do with Israel’s preemptive strike on Tehran and urged the country’s hardline leadership to sit back down at the bargaining table, according to Israeli journalist Amit Segal.

“When President Trump says, we had nothing to do with this operation, dear Iranians, and now we offer you to come back to the negotiating table, he uses the Iranian method, the proxy method, that said for years: ‘We have nothing to do with the Houthis, we have nothing to do with Hamas or Hezbollah, we just want to negotiate,'” Segal explained Monday on the Call Me Back podcast hosted by American author Dan Senor.

Now that Israel has attacked Iran, destroying large swaths of its nuclear program and military infrastructure, “President Trump says, ‘I had nothing to do with it, let’s negotiate,’” Segal said of the president’s strategy.

Iran immediately canceled a sixth round of nuclear negotiations with the Trump administration shortly after Israel launched its multi-pronged attack on Friday. By Monday—after Israel killed at least 20 senior Iranian military commanders and destroyed its operational headquarters—Tehran was reportedly begging to restart diplomacy.

Iran sent frantic diplomatic messages to both Washington, D.C., and Israel asking them to end the conflict and restart nuclear negotiations, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday, citing European and Arab officials.

“Tehran has told Arab officials it would be open to returning to the negotiating table as long as the U.S. doesn’t join the attack,” the outlet reported.

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Pro-Trump Reporter Jumped by Out-of-Control Antifa Mob While Covering ‘No Kings’ Riot in Seattle

A right-wing reporter was jumped and robbed by a mob of Antifa militants as he covered the “No Kings” riot in Seattle.

Journalist Cam Higby reported that police were not intervening in the violent riot and blamed it on Democrat Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell.

Prior to the attack, Higby says he received a death threat from an alleged Antifa militant and posted screenshots of the conversation.

“Tyler Hahn threatened to kill me just weeks ago,” Higby wrote.

Higby claimed that it was Hahn and his “lackeys” who attacked him at the riot.

“While SPD was refusing to intervene with the riot tonight, militant Tyler Hahn and his lackeys JUMPED ME,” Higby wrote. “Dealing several blows to my head. I was able to deploy pepper spray and repel them, regaining the belongings they knocked out of my pockets.”

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Fired ABC Hack Terry Moran Admits He is Liberal Activist — Pledges to Fight Trump During This ‘Dark Time’

To the surprise of absolutely nobody, fired ABC hack Terry Moran has outed himself as a liberal activist.

Earlier this week, Moran was fired by ABC after launching an extraordinary attack on President Trump’s senior policy advisor Stephen MIller.

The thing about Stephen Miller is not that he is the brains behind Trumpism.

Yes, he is one of the people who conceptualizes the impulses of the Trumpist movement and translates them into policy.

But that’s not what’s interesting about Miller. It’s not brains. It’s bile.

Miller is a man who is richly endowed with the capacity for hatred. He’s a world-class hater.

You can see this just by looking at him because you can see that his hatreds are his spiritual nourishment. He eats his hate.

Trump is a world-class hater. But his hatred only a means to an end, and that end is his own glorification. That’s his spiritual nourishment.

Moran’s rant was too much even for far-left ABC, who fired him hours later.

The 65-year-old is now embarking on a new journey as a left-wing activist who will fight for democracy during this “dark time” in American history.

He wrote in a post on Substack.

In institution after institution, from the law firms to the universities to the Senate itself, and beyond the institutions into our everyday lives—force is being applied to your willingness to speak up and tell the truth about what you are seeing and experiencing.

Sometimes it is physical force. Sometimes it is a threat of physical force, or the online mob descending into your digital life. Sometimes it is the threat to people’s livelihoods and the survival of businesses great and small.

In the face of that danger, all of us, sooner or later, will have to make a choice. Many of us will just want to avert our eyes, pretend that the danger is not real or not that bad or will soon pass over. And some already see it for what it is, and cower before it.

It’s a dark time.

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Dozens Of Journalists Targeted, Shot, Detained While Covering LA Protests, Press Org Says

Shocking video and photos taken amid the ongoing immigration protests in Los Angeles show journalists and news crews being shot, detained and forced off public property by law enforcement, raising concerns of excessive force and First Amendment rights violations.

There have been more than 30 incidents of police violence against journalists as of Tuesday, including 20 injuries, at least five of which required emergency room or urgent care visits, said Adam Rose, the press rights chair with the Los Angeles Press Club, which released a statement Monday urging an end to the targeting of journalists whose work is constitutionally protected.

The list of injuries includes a freelance photojournalist requiring emergency surgery Sunday night after being shot in the leg with a three-inch piece of plastic that he believes was designed to be shot and explode above a crowd.

Graphic photos shared with HuffPost show a gaping wound in Nick Stern’s right thigh that he said has left him unable to walk or move without assistance.

“Why this device was shot at human, kind of, waist high level, I do not know. The people around me at that time was doing nothing more than waving Mexican flags,” he told HuffPost.

Stern, who said he has three decades of experience photographing public protests, including in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the George Floyd protests in 2020, expressed concern that people may die from the excessive use of force that he witnessed and experienced firsthand.

“I never thought for one moment that I’d actually have to be fearful of law enforcement during a public protest but that seems to be where the danger to journalists comes from,” he said.

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Famous journalist Glenn Greenwald mired in sex tape scandal that he says was released by ‘political enemies’

Journalist Glenn Greenwald angrily lashed out at his political enemies after a sex tape showing him in a compromising position spread on social media. 

In a post to X on Friday morning, Greenwald said the clips were published without his ‘knowledge or consent’, and that he planned to take legal action. 

The 58-year-old, who is also a lawyer, added that the leaking of the videos was done so by ‘political enemies’ to ‘advance a political agenda’.

‘Last night’s videos were released online depicting behavior in my private life. Some were distorted and others were not. 

‘They were published without my knowledge or consent and its publication was therefore criminal. 

‘Though we do not yet know exactly who is responsible, we are close to knowing, and the motive was a maliciously political one,’ he said. 

He added that he carries ‘no embarrassment or regret’ about the acts depicted in the videos. 

‘The videos depict consenting adults engaged in intimate actions in their private lives. 

‘They all display fully consensual behavior, harming nobody. 

‘Obviously it can be uncomfortable and unpleasant when your private behavior is made public against your will – that’s why the behavior is private in the first place – but the only wrongdoing here is the criminal and malicious publication of the videos in an attempt to malign perceived political enemies and advance a political agenda.

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PATHETIC: Journalists of White House Correspondents Association Considered a ‘Sit-In’ Protest Over Changes in Seating Chart

As the Gateway Pundit recently reported, the Trump administration is planning to take over the seating chart in the briefing room, a power once held by the far-left White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA).

Members of the WHCA, who are apparently a bunch of toddlers throwing a tantrum over the change, considered doing a 1960s style ‘sit-in’ protest in order to object to the changes.

The left views the entire world as a liberal college campus. This is just more proof of that.

From Semafor:

Journalists consider briefing room sit-in as Trump clashes with White House press corps

The Trump administration’s proposal to take over the seating arrangement within the White House press briefing room has rattled the journalists who cover the president and left them mulling how exactly to push back.

The White House plans to impose its own seating chart for reporters in the briefing room, seizing control of a prerogative long managed by the journalists in the room through the White House Correspondents’ Association, Axios first reported Sunday.

The WHCA’s current system reflects the 20th century media power structure: wire services and broadcast and cable television networks occupy the front row, major newspapers and radio get the second and third rows, and a more fluid collection of news organizations sits further back. The White House proposal would upend the arrangement in a move White House officials reportedly believe will be a “fundamental restructuring of the briefing room, based on metrics more reflective of how media is consumed today.”…

According to two people familiar with the discussions, among the proposals raised by members was a potential Civil Rights era-style “sit-in” protest, in which members would return to their old seats and refuse to leave them.

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Israel Leveled Gaza — Then Killed the Drone Journalists Who Showed it to the World

Four years ago, Mahmoud Isleem al-Basos began messaging Shadi al-Tabatiby on social media, again and again, asking to join him on shoots. Al-Tabatiby, one of Gaza’s best-known drone journalists, didn’t pay much attention at first.

“But Mahmoud was persistent,” al-Tabatiby said. “So I told him, ‘Fine, I’ll meet you.’”

Twice, al-Tabatiby told al-Basos where he’d be filming; both times, al-Basos showed up and waited.

“There’s an age gap between us, but I love people who work hard and want to learn,” al-Tabatiby said. “I found that in Mahmoud.”

The two grew close, and al-Basos began joining al-Tabatiby on shoots.

Then came Israel’s war on Gaza. Al-Tabatiby, who was freelancing for The Associated Press, relocated to the south. Al-Basos stayed in the north. With movement between the two areas cut off by the Israeli military, they kept in touch.

Al-Tabatiby started assigning al-Basos shoots from afar, and the young journalist picked up work with international outlets, including Reuters and the Turkish news agency Anadolu.

Even after al-Tabatiby evacuated to Egypt a year ago, they stayed in close contact.

Two weeks ago, on March 15, al-Basos was filming preparations for a Ramadan iftar in the northern Gaza city of Beit Lahia. The backdrop was a new expansion of a displacement camp opened by the London-based Al-Khair Foundation, which was paying al-Basos to film the event. Then two Israeli airstrikes hit the area. At least seven people were killed, including al-Basos.

“I was in shock,” Al-Tabatiby said. “I couldn’t believe it.”

He added, with incredulity, “We were in a ceasefire.”

Al-Basos became the fifth drone journalist to be killed by Israel since the start of the war in Gaza.

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