US - #WeeklyAddress: January 29 - February 4: Congressman who assaulted journalist to lead communications workshop for GOP committee

The Guardian reported on January 30 that the National Republican Congressional Committee chose a controversial speaker for its next monthly communications workshop: Greg Gianforte, the US congressman of Montana who body-slammed Guardian journalist Ben Jacobs on the eve of his election last year. At the time, Gianforte tried to mislead the public, as well as police investigating the incident, in a campaign statement that put the blame on Jacobs. Multiple journalists came forward saying they witnessed and recorded the brutal attack, resulting in the congressman pleading guilty to assault. He was sentenced to 40 hours of community service and 20 hours of anger management classes. The communications workshop he will lead in February is called, “Hire for culture, train for skill.” The National Republican Congressional Committee works to increase Republican majority within the US House of Representatives. Margaux Ewen, North America Director for Reporters Without Borders (RSF) responded to the decision on January 31: “We call on Gianforte to heed the lessons learned from his assault conviction and teach those attending the workshop the fundamental role of journalists in a democracy, who should under no circumstances face physical violence for simply doing their job."

Former Florida congressman who threatened a journalist nearly joined Politifact as a contributor

Politifact.com, a fact-checking website, released a statement on February 1 that it had hired non-Politifact writers to publish content as part of a new experiment. These contributors included Alan Grayson, a former U.S. Representative for Florida who in July 2016 threatened Politico reporter Edward-Isaac Dovere. At the time, Grayson refused to stop to speak with Dovere and could be seen in a video pushing Dovere out of his way. Grayson then made multiple threats against Dovere saying, “you know, I’m hoping that somebody comes here and arrests you” and “have this guy escorted out.” After Politifact announced Grayson’s appointment, Dovere took to Twitter to express his frustration.

After all the backlash received on Twitter, Politifact ultimately backtracked their decision to hire Grayson.

Attorney in trial of Chicago police officer subpoenas three Chicago news outlets

On February 1 the attorney for Jason Van Dyke, a white Chicago police officer being charged with the 2014 murder of a black teenager, subpoenaed three news outlets for their published reporting on the case. Van Dyke’s attorney claims the subpoenas will yield more information about inflammatory comments that Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel made about the police officer in public appearances, thereby proving a change of venue for the trial is necessary. The Daily Herald in Arlington Heights, the Chicago-Sun Times, and the Chicago Tribune were each subpoenaed, according to the Associated Press. Media lawyer Steven Mandell responded to the subpoenas: “What stops them from going to the public library and looking in archives or doing a LexisNexis search and getting the information themselves? Instead, they’re taking the most convenient route for them and placing the burden on the Tribune, or whatever media outlet it is, to do the work for them.”

Massachusetts commission denies press access during a public meeting

Members of the press were blocked from attending a listening session hosted by a Latino Advisory Commission on January 30 in Holyoke, Massachusetts. On January 25, 2018, the commission held a similar meeting in Springfield that allowed the press to attend; however, when a reporter from The Republican, a local print newspaper, arrived at the Holyoke meeting, she was greeted with a sign: "To promote authentic sharing all of the Governor's Latino Advisory Commission statewide listening sessions are CLOSED TO THE PRESS." According to local news site MassLive, the meeting was meant to be invitation only. The denial of access occurred despite a Massachusetts open meeting law that allows the public to attend governmental events in order to avoid secrecy surrounding policy decisions.

Former White House Press secretary criticizes media coverage of Trump on “Fox & Friends”

Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer was a guest on January 29th’s Fox News’ “Fox & Friends,” a show regularly watched by President Trump, where he discussed other media outlets’ coverage of the Trump presidency. The segment discussed authoritarianism within other media outlets. Spicer contributed to the discussion saying, “all these outlets have those little countdown clocks... somebody will dig something up from when [Trump] was, like, eight years old...and try to take away the momentum from another great speech.” “Fox & Friends” co-host Ainsley Earhardt added to Spicer, “it’s just so anti-American. I mean...where’s the unity.” During his time as press secretary, Spicer repeatedly chastised media outlets’ reporting on the presidency and even responded with threats to reporters.

The United States ranks 43rd out of 180 countries in RSF's 2017 World Press Freedom Index after falling 2 places in the last year.

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