Journalism • Press Freedom
Shattered by a perfect storm: How Trump’s cuts are crippling journalism beyond the United States
Gretel Kahn, Marina Adami, Eduardo Suárez
Reuters Institute
Before Trump’s inauguration, the US government supported independent journalism in more than 30 countries. Most of this funding was channelled through USAID. According to a USAID factsheet recently mentioned by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and now taken offline, the agency funded training and support for 6,200 journalists and assisted 707 outlets.
Published On: 03/07/2025
Democracy
Is Trump preparing to invoke the Insurrection Act? Signs are pointing that way
Brett Wagner
San Francisco Chronicle
The clock is ticking down on a crucial but little-noticed part of President Donald Trump’s first round of executive orders — the one tasking the secretaries of the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security to submit a joint report, within 90 days, recommending “whether to invoke the Insurrection Act.”
Published On: 03/05/2025
Democracy
Insurrection Act of 1807
Wikipedia
Wikipedia
The Insurrection Act of 1807 is a United States federal law[1] that empowers the president of the United States to deploy the U.S. military and federalized National Guard troops within the United States in particular circumstances, such as to suppress civil disorder, insurrection, or rebellion.
Published On: 03/04/2025
Democracy • Technology • Threat Management
Trump administration retreats in fight against Russian cyber threats
Stephanie Kirchgaessner
The Guardian
Recent incidents indicate US is no longer characterizing Russia as a cybersecurity threat, marking a radical departure: ‘Putin is on the inside now’
Published On: 03/01/2025
Democracy
Wreckage, Rapists, and Resistance: Week Six of the Coup
Rebecca Solnit
Meditations in an Emergency
Great uprisings are often both carefully prepared for and essentially unpredictable. It's as if the fuel has been gathered for a bonfire but a lightning strike suddenly ignites it.
Published On: 03/01/2025
Legal
Energy Transfer’s High Stakes Legal Attack on Greenpeace
Janine Jackson
FAIR Counterspin
...this case is one of the most extraordinary examples of abuse of the US legal system that we have encountered in at least the last decade. And anyone who is concerned about protecting free speech rights, or is concerned about large corporations abusing their power to silence their critics, should be paying attention to this case, even though it’s happening in North Dakota state court." -- Kirk Herbertson, EarthRights International
Published On: 02/28/2025
Democracy • Journalism
Donald Trump Is Turning the Press Pool Into a MAGA Echo Chamber
Eric Lutz
Vanity Fair
Leavitt insisted the change was a “long overdue” corrective to an “outdated” system, which gave “left wing stenographers” a “monopoly” on access. But the real message behind the move was plain: The Trump administration will punish news organizations for unfavorable coverage and uncomfortable questions.
Published On: 02/26/2025
Democracy • Legal
FCC’s Knives Are Out for First Amendment
ARI PAUL
FAIR
Brendan Carr, newly appointed chair of the Federal Communications Commission, is waging a war on the news media, perhaps the most dangerous front in de jure President Donald Trump and de facto President Elon Musk’s quest to destroy freedom of the press and the First Amendment.
Published On: 02/26/2025
Democracy
Reichstag Fire 2.0: Will Trump Use a Crisis to Kill Democracy?
THOM HARTMANN
The Hartmann Report
There’s a long history of leaders using national emergencies to raise their popularity, expand their own power, overwhelm opposition politicians, scapegoat minorities, suspend constitutions and elections, and provide a legal façade for ending or weakening democracy.
Published On: 02/24/2025
Legal • Technology
DOGE Sparks Surveillance Fear Across the US Government
Paresh Dave, Dell Cameron, Alexa O'Brien
Wired
A federal law enforcement source warns that monitoring could theoretically be used to gather political intelligence on federal employees, while the administration looks for more palatable reasons to terminate them later; similar to how law enforcement may obtain evidence that's inadmissible in the course of a criminal investigation, but then search for another evidentiary basis to file charges.
Published On: 02/21/2025