Press Freedom
Surveilling journalists to discover their sources. Using the Espionage Act to prosecute whistleblowers for disclosing information to the press that the public should know. Arresting and attacking journalists reporting on social unrest. Criminalizing the kinds of activities that journalists engage in routinely and as a necessary part of their work. Serious threats, all, to the freedom of the press.
This blog channel highlights the Institute’s ongoing work to preserve and strengthen free press protections in the digital age.
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Quick Take: Press Freedom
Groups Press Attorney General to Drop Espionage Act Charges against Julian Assange
Warn that criminal case poses grave threat to press freedom
By Lorraine Kenny -
Deep Dive: Press Freedom
The Law of the Reporter’s Privilege is a Mess. A Federal Shield Law Could Help Fix It.
Journalists need to know when they can expect to receive protection under federal law and when they can’t
By Mayze Teitler & Samuel Aber -
Deep Dive: Press Freedom
The Justice Department’s New Media Protections Are (Mostly) a Promise, Not Yet a Reality
What’s most important is not what the Attorney General has already done, but what the Justice Department and Congress do next
By Anna Diakun & Jameel Jaffer -
Quick Take: Press Freedom
The Pentagon Papers 50 Years Later
Safeguarding press freedom today requires extending protections to whistleblowers and limiting the use of the Espionage Act
By Lorraine Kenny -
Deep Dive: Press Freedom
For the Biden Administration, Who Counts as News Media?
Newly obtained document raises concerns that some newsgatherers will be denied First Amendment protection
By Anna Diakun & Trevor Timm
Reading Room
Transparency & Democracy
The OLC's Opinions
Opinions published by the OLC, including those released in response to our FOIA lawsuit
Learn MoreAdvocacy
Advocacy Project
Knight Institute, Scholars Advise SEC That Proposed Climate Rules Do Not Raise First Amendment Concerns
Leading First Amendment scholars sign onto Knight Institute letter addressing constitutionality of new rules
Learn MoreResearch
Press Statement
Arvind Narayanan and J. Nathan Matias to Join Knight Institute as Visiting Researchers
Narayanan will explore how algorithms distort online speech, and Matias will study human-algorithm behavior and free expression
Learn MoreResearch
Institute Update
Are We Climbing in or out of the Hole?
Artist Piotr Szyhalski on the making of the “Lies and the Law” series
Learn More