First Amendment News

Sinclair broadcasting purchased the faltering Baltimore Sun causing concern about the editorial policies of the new ownership. Sinclair executive chair David D. Smith said his intent was to make the newspaper profitable, but the chain has sided with Trump on the issue of “fake news” and conveyed a right-wing slant to the news. (The Associated Press, January 16, 2024, by David Bauder and Lea Skene) Margaret Sullivan in The Guardian, January 18, 2024, lamented the

The U.S. House passed the PRESS Act that protects journalist’s confidential sources from federal investigation. The proposed bill also stops federal agencies from seizing data from telecommunication companies without notice to journalists who could then bring a challenge in court. (Sacramento Bee, January 18, 2024, by Gillian Brassil)

Thousands of YouTube videos are spreading false information about climate change, downplaying the effects of global warming. No longer claiming that climate change was a lie, the deniers are now claiming that global warming will be beneficial or perhaps even harmless. YouTube is making $13.4 million annually on climate denying videos. (CNN, January 17, 2024, by Rachel Ramirez) The Center for Countering Digital Hate found that the lies about climate “now have to do with

A conservative federal appeals court stymied a Texas law that would force booksellers in business with school libraries to rate books for sexual content. The court’s ruling agreed with a lower court finding that the law required unconstitutional government-compelled speech. (NBC News, January 17, 2024, by Phil Helsel) The law banned sexually explicit books in school libraries and required book sellers to set up a prohibitive expensive procedures for rating books for sexual content. (Texas

A California appeals court ruled that 911 calls could not be kept from the public. A journalist sued the Chula Vista Police Department to obtain public records regarding the use of drones in emergency calls. The department tried to withhold 911 recordings claiming that every recording was an investigative record. The state Supreme Court had earlier rejected that line of reasoning in a similar case involving data from automatic license plate readers. (techdirt, January 10,