Over the past 14 years, a war on the free press has been quietly escalating in the U.S. This brewing conflict is fueled by increased and unchecked government surveillance, a post-truth intolerance of any criticism of media coverage, and prosecutions of media sources, journalists and publishers which have been endorsed by politicians on both sides of the political spectrum. Beginning a decade ago with the prosecution of whistleblowers, the U.S. campaign to tamp down leaks has spread to the criminalization of standard investigative journalism. While the U.S. still presents itself as the global standard-bearer for free speech and freedom of the press, recent fissures expose a looming calamity.
Due to aggressive national security investigations and two draconian laws, journalists and media sources are at severe risk of increased criminal investigation and prosecution. We have seen these risks realized in the cases of Timothy Burke, Julian Assange and Catherine Herridge, three individuals who might not seem to belong in the same category at first — and who may not all look, to many readers, like "real journalists." Whether or not one personally approves of what they do, all three are being punished for the work of journalism, and the laws and systems being used to target them do not discriminate based on whether the mainstream media considers them legitimate. The precedent set by these cases will apply in future to anyone engaging in such entirely normative journalistic activities as cultivating sources while protecting their anonymity, and seeking to publish information in the public interest that governments or other powerful forces seek to control.
.jpg?w=600)
