donal brown

FIRE announced the 10 worst censors for 2024 featuring the Kansas small town police raid of a local newspaper investigating among other things misconduct by the police chief. Otherwise educational institutions dominated the list: Muirlands Middle School in San Diego, the Mayo Clinic College of Medical Science, San Francisco State University, California Community Colleges, Texas A&M and Harvard. (Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, February 13, 2024) For related FAC coverage, click here, here and

A District of Columbia jury found that two men had maliciously and falsely attacked the Penn State climate scientist Michael Mann for his graph in Nature illustrating a warming planet. One of the men, Rand Simberg, compared investigating Mann’s work to the case of Jerry Sandusky, once at Penn State, convicted of sexually assaulting children. (The Associated Press, February 8, 2024, by Suman Naishadham) Mann said about the finding, “”I hope this verdict sends a

NewsNation journalist Evan Lambert won a $80,000 settlement for injuries suffered during his arrest for broadcasting live from a press conference about an Ohio train derailment. The Ohio attorney general earlier announced the dismissal of the charges and said Lambert was acting in a way consistent with his role as a reporter. (Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, February 7, 2024) Lambert received $80,000 for his injuries and $32,000 for legal fees. The Reporters

Former head of Project Veritas James O”Keefe settled a lawsuit brought by an Erie Pennsylvania postmaster in response to a false claim by a postal worker of voter fraud in 2020. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed. (NBC News, February 5, 2024, by Ryan J. Reilly) Postmaster Robert Weisenbach said he had to leave his home after one of his workers claimed falsely that the postmaster tampered with mail-in ballots, and his address

Two free press advocates in The Hill, February 1, 2024, see the PRESS Act as an overdue nonpartison solution to a problem that threatens all political parties. Clayton Weimers of Reporters Without Borders USA and Seth Stern of the Freedom of the Press Foundation write, “Administrations from both parties have abused their power to retaliate against journalists who have criticized them or exposed their secrets.” They cite instances of bad acting from the Obama, Trump