Author: Rick Blum

FIRST Principles Update for May 8, 2017

Posted onAuthorRick Blum

Wikileaks under renewed Justice Department scrutiny In recent weeks, the government has turned up the public relations temperature against WikiLeaks. In late April, the Washington Post reported that the Justice Department is seriously examining whether to prosecute WikiLeaks or Julian Assange. CIA Director Mike Pompeo called WikiLeaks a hostile non-state intelligence service. At the same time, Attorney General Jeff Sessions is “stepping up” the justice Department’s work against leaks, Politico’s Josh Gerstein reports. ‘We are [More]

First Amendment Report Card: C+ for the five freedoms

Posted onAuthorRick Blum

The five freedoms of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution received a C+ grade from a panel of reviewers brought together by the Newseum Institute. The report card is an effort to assign a grade four times each year to each of the freedoms protected by the First Amendment. Panelists were asked to assign an individual grade to each of the freedoms of speech, religion, press, assembly, and petition. (Disclosure: I participated as a [More]

Gorsuch on libel standards

Posted onAuthorRick Blum

Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch explains current standards for libel and First Amendment protections established in New York Times v. Sullivan, the Supreme Court decision that established clear protections for newsreporting and speech about public officials. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) asks Gorsuch about the standard. KLOBUCHAR: I’m gonna end with freedom of press in honor of my dad. He was a newspaper reporter his whole life and I’m especially concerned in today’s world where we’re [More]

FIRST Principles Update for March 21, 2017

Posted onAuthorRick Blum

News Media for Open Government publishes FIRST Principles to update you on some of what we’re following. Lawmakers prod executive branch to implement FOIA reforms. On March 15, 2017, senior senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee sent letters seeking updates and timetables for completing reforms that Congress put in place last year make the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) work better. Signed by Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-IA), Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), John [More]

FIRST Principles for March 3, 2017

Posted onAuthorRick Blum

Welcome to the News Media for Open Government FIRST Principles Updates Name Change: Why we became News Media for Open Government. Working for over a decade as the Sunshine in Government Initiative, we adopted a new name, a new, broadened mission to protect newsgathering, and a new look. And in 2017, we’ll be doing more to help our member groups keep track of trends and fight to protect newsgathering and open government. Comments, concerns, tips [More]

Cosmetics manufacturing bill (H.R. 575) hides adverse events

Posted onAuthorRick Blum

Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Tx.) has introduced legislation that appears to allow cosmetics manufacturers to keep product complaints reported to the federal government secret. The legislation (H.R. 575), appears to allow the executive branch wide latitude to determine through regulation what agencies must require manufacturers to disclose publicly. “(g) List.—The Secretary shall compile and maintain an up-to-date and publicly available electronic list of cosmetics and ingredients for which statements are submitted under this section. A statement [More]

Accuracy in journalism

Posted onAuthorRick Blum

Journalism at its best is guided by the search for truth and holding the powerful to account. This is not some academic exercise or noble goal. Resources abound for learning about how the news media takes seriously its commitment to accuracy. An important starting point is the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics, which lays out four commitments for journalists: seek the truth and report it, minimize harm, act independently, and be accountable and transparent. The SPJ website provides detailed [More]

Release: SGI adopts new name, broadened focus: News Media for Open Government

Posted onAuthorRick Blum

  PRESS RELEASE — FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  Sunshine in Government Initiative changes name to News Media for Open Government, Re-focuses on defending and advancing newsgathering and open government   January 18, 2017 — After more than a decade of work to advance government transparency, the Sunshine in Government Initiative (SGI), a coalition of nine leading journalism associations, is today announcing a new name and broadened focus on threats to newsgathering and open government. Going forward SGI [More]

Threat of leaks investigation

Posted onAuthorRick Blum

President-elect Trump used Twitter to announce he asked the House and Senate intelligence committees to identify who provided to NBC News a memorandum outlining the intelligence community’s assessment of efforts by the Russian government to influence the presidential election. A threat of an investigation by Congress into unauthorized disclosures to the news media should be taken seriously. As has been widely reported, the report obtained by NBC the version for public release, not the classified version with sensitive details [More]

CFTC Reauthorization (H.R. 238) includes a FOIA exemption

Posted onAuthorRick Blum

Legislation approved on January 12 by the full House of Representatives to reauthorize the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (H.R. 238) contains an exemption to disclosure under federal FOIA for information CFTC may “asertain” regarding complicated trading structures known as commodity pools and client accounts. As introduced, the legislation required that the information be treated as investigative material. CFTC could publish aggregated information the disclosure of which would not identify “any person or firm, or such person’s proprietary information.” On its [More]