New Julian Assange Indictment Crushes the Hopes of Journalists Who Thought Their Press Passes Would Save Them

[Muda69]

https://reason.com/2019/05/24/new-julian-assange-indictment-decisively-crushes-the-hopes-of-journalists-who-thought-their-press-passes-would-save-them/

Quote

Any hope that professional journalists may have had that the Justice Department's prosecution of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange would leave them and the First Amendment unscathed was decisively crushed by the indictment unsealed yesterday. While DOJ officials are still trying to assure reporters that the Trump administration values and respects their work (I know), it is now abundantly clear that the case against Assange is an unprecedented, sweeping, and deeply dangerous assault on freedom of the press.

"Some say that Assange is a journalist and that he should be immune from prosecution for these actions," John Demers, the head of the Justice Department's National Security Division, told reporters yesterday. "The department takes seriously the role of journalists in our democracy and we thank you for it. It is not and has never been the department's policy to target them for reporting." There is no need to worry, Demers suggested, because Assange is "no journalist."

That distinction is not only debatable but constitutionally irrelevant, since "freedom of the press" refers to a method of mass communication, not a professional guild. It belongs to all of us, not just to people employed by respectable news organizations. Yet some of those people have endorsed this bogus distinction because they despise Assange, think they are entitled to special privileges because of their professional status and standards, and vainly hope their press passes will save them.

...

The Justice Department is hoping to blunt the backlash against that attack by picking a widely reviled figure as a test case. But anyone who actually believes in civil liberties understands that they mean nothing if they can be violated when the target happens to be unpopular. Just as the ACLU is not endorsing the views of Nazis or Klansmen when it defends their First Amendment rights, you don't have to like Assange (or believe he is a real journalist) to recognize the importance of the principle at stake in his case.

Any GID members who also happen to be employed as journalists and members of the press care to comment?

 

[swordfish]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2019/04/16/unpacking-the-alleged-assange-manning-password-hacking-conspiracy/#1834d19e6ee8

The U.S. government has disclosed more of its case against WikiLeaks cofounder Julian Assange. It hinges on a claim he and Chelsea Manning worked together to crack a password for a computer storing sensitive government files.

An affidavit unsealed Monday outlining the case against Assange said he conspired with Manning when they discussed working together to crack a password “related to two computers with access to classified national security information.” More specifically, the password belonged to a user called FTP (not to be confused with an FTP server) on two Windows computers that Manning could access from a base in Iraq, the government said.

The FTP account wasn’t associated with any specific individual, and the government alleged that if Manning had used it to pilfer files and hand them over to Wikileaks, she could have foiled investigators looking into who was behind the leaks. “Although there is no evidence that the password to the FTP user was obtained, had Manning done so, she would have been able to take steps to procure classified information under a username that did not belong to her,” the affidavit read. “Such measures would have frustrated attempts to identify the source of the disclosures to WikiLeaks.”

The alleged conspiracy to crack the password took place in March 2010, two months after Maning had walked out of the Iraq base with classified war reports from Iraq and Afghanistan. She was later convicted and served seven years in jail for downloading tens of thousands U.S. military documents and diplomatic cables.

Assange’s lawyer, Jennifer Robinson, couldn’t be reached for comment at the time of publication. She told Sky News yesterday that the indictment against her client showed “the kinds of communications journalists have with sources all the time.” Following Assange’s arrest, however, various journalists have said on Twitter that any incitement to hack organizations or steal documents was far from normal and risked breaking the law.

SF doesn't consider this an absolute attack on the 1st amendment - the Government case appears to be accusing Assange of conspiracy with Manning since it appears he/she (Manning) couldn't get the files Assange wanted without help......First - if he asked for specific files he wanted to further his "story" that's one thing, but second - If he helped him/her hack into the system, that certainly wouldn't be protected under the 1st amendment....... 

BTW - SF is NOT a member of the press......but (IMHO) a member of the press commenting on Muda's opening post I would ask to consider this post as well......

[BARRYOSAMA]

44 minutes ago, Muda69 said:

https://reason.com/2019/05/24/new-julian-assange-indictment-decisively-crushes-the-hopes-of-journalists-who-thought-their-press-passes-would-save-them/

Any GID members who also happen to be employed as journalists and members of the press care to comment?

 

This is what authoritarian leadership does to the 4th estate.

[gonzoron]

On 5/24/2019 at 1:10 PM, Muda69 said:

https://reason.com/2019/05/24/new-julian-assange-indictment-decisively-crushes-the-hopes-of-journalists-who-thought-their-press-passes-would-save-them/

Any GID members who also happen to be employed as journalists and members of the press care to comment?

 

They would need to be members of the Gridiron Out of Bounds club to comment or see this. I don't think @DT is a member of the Club.