First Amendment News

Olympic athletes allowed to twitter

Despite the International Olympic Committee’s confusion about blogs and journalism, it appears that Olympic athletes will be allowed much greater freedom to tweet from the games than previously thought. -db Citizen Media Law Project Commentary February 9, 2010 By Arthur Bright Rejoice, all ye Olympian fans, the International Olympic Committee (“IOC”) has said that its athletes can use Twitter! Apparently there’s been some confusion among Olympic athletes as to whether they were allowed to “tweet,” as

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Federal appeals court orders disclosure of names of telecom lobbyists

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the government must reveal name of lobbyists who working for retroactive liability protection for telecom companies who participated in warrantless surveillance of U.S. citizens after 9/11. -db Metropolitan News-Enterprise February 10, 2010 By Sherri M. Okamoto The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday ruled that the government was required to disclose the names of individuals who lobbied in favor of retroactive liability protection for telecommunications carriers

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Obama administration favors TV, YouTube over press

Obama has not held a full-scale press conference since July prompting critics to charge he is avoiding the White House press corps to avoid hard questions and chances of committing an error. -db The Washington Post Commentary February 8, 2010 By Howard Kurtz Six months ago, network executives were complaining that the White House was costing them tens of millions of dollars by pressing them to carry presidential news conferences in prime time. Problem solved:

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Report says press freedom eroding with shift to online media

A report in CQ Researcher says that with no way established to charge for online news content, there is less money to spend accessing courts, public records and public meetings. -db The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press February 9, 2010 By Cristina Abello As newspaper circulations drop and nightly news broadcasts garner fewer viewers, more people are getting their news online — a medium not as likely as traditional media to spend the

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Michigan reporter wins round in federal court to keep sources confidential

A federal court judge ruled that a Detroit Free Press reporter could invoke his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination to allow him to keep the names of his sources in the Justice Department a secret. A federal prosecutor is suing for the names of his sources. -db The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press February 9, 2010 By Cristina Abello A Michigan federal court today ruled that Detroit Free Press reporter David Ashenfelter properly

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