The press’ fundamental right to inform the public, as established in the First Amendment, will never dim. But these are challenging times for journalism, so the National Press Club Journalism Institute, in partnership with the National Press Club, Society of Professional Journalists and other organizations, asked each potential presidential nominee for his or her perspective on important press freedom issues.
We believe you have a right to understand where each stands on press-freedom issues, which impact us all. American newsrooms are shrinking. Trust in the news media is low. Civil discourse is fraying. Abroad, journalists are being killed or silenced by despots and organized criminals. At home, venerable journalism institutions have been labeled “enemies of the people.”
This is the reality that will confront the president of the United States in 2021. We believe it is crucial for the public to understand how the candidates seeking to occupy the White House will view the role of a free press.
To date, only Michael Bloomberg has responded to the request. You can see his answers here. As other candidates respond, we will post and share the responses in full.
Here’s what we asked:
- Amid newspaper closures, allegations of fake news and politically polarized views of journalism, do you believe the president has a role in restoring faith in the concept of a free press? How?
- With press freedoms increasingly under attack around the world, how will you use diplomatic tools to promote a free press across the globe? Would your administration continue to do business with governments that jail or condone the murder of journalists?
- Under the last two administrations, the Justice Department has prosecuted an unprecedented number of journalistic sources as if they were spies. Should providing classified information to the media be treated the same way as information that is transmitted to hostile governments or bad actors?
- Given efforts by federal agencies and the Supreme Court to limit information available to the public through the Freedom of Information Act, how would you approach the public dissemination of taxpayer financed information? Do you pledge to make public all data that underlie policy proposals or changes?
- Under guidelines adopted in 2013 by then-Attorney General Holder, the attorney general must approve any federal law enforcement action directed at journalists, including their detention or efforts to compel production of reporting materials. DOJ attorneys also must notify journalists before seeking access to their records held by third party vendors. Would you abide by the so-called Holder rules? How, if at all, would you change them?
- Forty-nine states have media shield laws, either in statute or case law, designed to protect reporters from having to reveal sources or divulge reporting information to government officials. Would you support adoption of a federal shield law? What limitations would you place on such a statute?
- Will you ensure that division and agency heads, scientists and researchers, and other federal employees are free to speak with journalists, and are encouraged to do so? How?
- In New York Times v. Sullivan, the Supreme Court established that to win a defamation case public officials and public figures must prove information was published “with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard for the truth.” Do you consider this decision settled law?
- Austin Tice, a journalist and veteran Marine Corps captain, was captured in Syria in 2012. The US government believes he is alive and being held by an affiliate of the Syrian government. He is the only US journalist in foreign captivity. What steps would you take to secure his release?
- Should journalists who have been threatened for their work in their home countries be able to seek U.S. asylum, and live in this country without fear of detention while their asylum cases are adjudicated?
- Do you pledge to hold regular presidential press conferences? How often? And will you restore regular White House briefings? Similarly, how often should the State Department and Defense Department hold press briefings?
- Please place a check mark next to the three issues raised in the questions above that you consider most important:
- Holding regular press conferences and briefings
- Asylum protections for persecuted journalists
- Freeing journalist and Marine veteran Austin Tice
- Status of defamation case law
- Permitting government employees to speak to journalists
- Federal media shield law
- Protecting journalists / Holder Rule
- Expanding access through Freedom of Information Act
- Protecting journalistic sources from prosecution
- Ensuring press freedoms globally
- Restoring faith in a free press
For inquiries about this project, please contact the NPC Journalism Institute’s Press Freedom Fellow, Jim Kuhnhenn, at [email protected], or the Institute’s Executive Director, Julie Moos, at [email protected].