Apple’s new complaint with a UK tribunal shows that private cloud storage cannot be taken for granted. To get started with end-to-end encrypted storage, journalists with Apple devices should try Advanced Data Protection. Read our newsletter to get started — and subscribe!

Apple fights UK government’s iCloud backdoor, again

While available elsewhere, Apple is still working to give UK users end-to-end encrypted iCloud

freedom.press

What a great platform to publicly deny promising Trump a CNN overhaul or $20 million in free advertising in exchange for merger approvals. Or to speak out against his bullying of journalists you employ or want to employ. Weird that you didn’t do any of that.

Opinion | David Ellison: In Defense of the Paramount-Warner Deal

The issue is whether I can be trusted as a steward of CNN

nytimes.com

David, if you want this charm offensive to work, your dad should sit for an interview. Maybe with an unemployed ex-60 Minutes reporter. He can make the case for giving CBS, CNN and TikTok to a guy building an AI surveillance dystopia. What could go wrong?

Opinion | What to know about David Ellison’s embattled bid to acquire Warner Bros.

David Ellison’s embattled bid to acquire Warner Bros. doesn’t make much financial sense. It might still be a win for the Ellison empire and its bigger global plans.

ms.now

Freedom of the Press Foundation@freedom.press · yesterday

What a great platform to publicly deny promising Trump a CNN overhaul or $20 million in free advertising in exchange for merger approvals. Or to speak out against his bullying of journalists you employ or want to employ. Weird that you didn’t do any of that.

The First Circuit got this exactly right. Lawmakers considering similar legislation need to think not only about their own intentions but the intentions of bad actors who may occupy their seats in the future. 🔗 www.freepress.net/news/civil-l...

The Ellisons are taking their “poor billionaires” charm offensive to the op-ed pages. Meanwhile, the news pages aren’t cooperating — every week we learn more about the scope of editorial interference at CBS under their watch.

Senator Ron Wyden@wyden.senate.gov · yesterday

Yep. Earlier this year I was interviewed by Sharyn Alfonsi of 60 Minutes about my Epstein investigation. Subsequently, CBS pulled the segment and fired the reporter. The MAGA buyout of media is aiding the Trump administration’s Epstein cover up.

🔔 Join us for a live webinar on the latest proposals to strengthen FOIA, and how these changes could help journalists investigating the truth, featuring David Cuillier, Ryan Mulvey, and Margaret Kwoka. 🗓️ Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT RSVP: freedom.press/fixing-foia

Trump's DOJ was forced to withdraw its subpoenas against several @nytimes.com reporters in disgrace. A federal judge on Thursday blasted government lawyers for careless errors, not knowing the law, and misleading the court. Watch @trevortimm.bsky.social break it down.

San Diego folks: don't sleep on this talk about safely covering the border on Aug 17.

Freedom of the Press Foundation@freedom.press · 6d ago

How do journalists safely cover the U.S./Mexico land border? Join us in-person in San Diego for a look at the intersection of investigative reporting, digital security, and legal implications of border reporting. 📍California Western School of Law 🗓️ 8/17, 5 p.m. PT RSVP: freedom.press/sandiego26

David, if you want this charm offensive to work, your dad should sit for an interview. Maybe with an unemployed ex-60 Minutes reporter. He can make the case for giving CBS, CNN and TikTok to a guy building an AI surveillance dystopia. What could go wrong?

Opinion | What to know about David Ellison’s embattled bid to acquire Warner Bros.

David Ellison’s embattled bid to acquire Warner Bros. doesn’t make much financial sense. It might still be a win for the Ellison empire and its bigger global plans.

ms.now

Freedom of the Press Foundation@freedom.press · yesterday

What a great platform to publicly deny promising Trump a CNN overhaul or $20 million in free advertising in exchange for merger approvals. Or to speak out against his bullying of journalists you employ or want to employ. Weird that you didn’t do any of that.

What a great platform to publicly deny promising Trump a CNN overhaul or $20 million in free advertising in exchange for merger approvals. Or to speak out against his bullying of journalists you employ or want to employ. Weird that you didn’t do any of that.

Opinion | David Ellison: In Defense of the Paramount-Warner Deal

The issue is whether I can be trusted as a steward of CNN

nytimes.com

Processing DNA for nearly a million people in a year? No problem, ICE says. Attaching a $300 camera to an agent’s vest? Logistical nightmare. That's one of the most remarkable ironies of this great story (based on FOIA requests by @georgetownlaw.bsky.social's Center on Privacy and Technology).

ICE Collected Nearly 1 Million People’s DNA Last Year—Including Young Children

Internal documents show ICE's DNA collection has skyrocketed in the second Trump administration. Now hundreds of thousands of people never convicted of a crime are in an FBI criminal database forever.

wired.com

While the Trump admin publishes Fauci’s unredacted diaries, it is simultaneously proposing a government-wide NDA "to muzzle federal workers from sharing the very kinds of information" Rand Paul released, FPF's @laurenleharper.bsky.social writes in MS NOW.

Opinion | The Fauci hearing takeaway that the Trump administration doesn’t want you to notice

Lauren Harper: The Trump administration is actively shredding its own paper trail, preventing future accountability.

ms.now

Like documentaries? Then you probably don’t want the two largest privately held news archives — the lifeblood of documentary film — under the same ownership. Especially when that ownership kisses up to politicians by censoring their critics.

Film producers warn Paramount-Warner merger could restrict access to news archives

By Dawn Chmielewski and Paul Sandle LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, July 30 (Reuters) - A group of film producers has urged the British culture minister to intervene in the proposed merger of Paramount Skyda...

whbl.com

📩 Read in our latest newsletter: - As DNI, Jay Clayton is a threat to press freedom - Attacks on radical outlets endanger all journalism - Brendan Carr stops pretending license renewals aren’t about speech - Plus, what we're reading...

Jay Clayton is a threat to press freedom

Plus: How attacks on radical outlets endanger all journalism

freedom.press

Journalist @shirleysmithvi.bsky.social writes that transparency failures in the Epstein case show why officials in the US Virgin Islands need to take open government seriously. They can start by modernizing the territory's archaic public records laws.

US Virgin Islands need transparency to weed out corruption

Use our action center to tell officials there to fix the territory’s archaic public records laws

freedom.press

So, you’re about to publish something that you just know is going to be met with harassment, or worse. There’s a lot you can do to make an attacker’s job harder, and it all starts with understanding your online footprint. Read our advice column to learn more.

Ask a security trainer: Expecting doxxing?

Journalists sometimes work on stories that draw unwanted personal attention or culminate in public disclosure of personal information. But there’s plenty you can do to prepare

freedom.press

This week’s top secrecy news: - The Pentagon’s database tricks attempt to hide the full toll of the Iran war. - Biden’s FOIA loss should pave the way for the release of the Jack Smith report. These stories and more in The Classifieds.

Pentagon secrecy deepens as Iran war drags on

Plus: Why Biden’s FOIA loss should pave the way for the release of the Jack Smith report

freedom.press

The Pentagon is already far too secretive. Now, it wants a blanket FOIA exemption to hide unclassified records from the public. FPF is leading a coalition of transparency groups urging Congress to reject this dangerous and unnecessary secrecy push.

FPF urges Congress not to rubber-stamp Pentagon secrecy

Blanket FOIA exemption would hide unclassified records from the public. That’s dangerous and unnecessary

freedom.press

Hegseth’s Pentagon secrecy push threatens access to unclassified records: Exempting controlled unclassified information from FOIA could effectively put millions of files beyond the reach of open-records laws — potentially forever By FPF's @laurenleharper.bsky.social:

Opinion | Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon secrecy push threatens access to unclassified records

Lauren Harper: The Pentagon’s proposal to Congress would bypass FOIA’s transparency requirements and give the military sweeping powers to withhold nearly all unclassified information.

ms.now

The House investigation of @btnewsroom.bsky.social is the latest example of financial probes being used as "pretexts to stifle journalism and dissent," FPF's @seth-stern.bsky.social writes in @theintercept.com. Read more:

House Investigation of BreakThrough News Is an Attack on All Journalism

Favorable coverage of U.S. adversaries is constitutionally protected speech.

theintercept.com

“We don’t need the Pentagon hiding more information from FOIA. We need it to actually respond to public records requests, we need it to stop harassing journalists for doing their job, and we need it to be transparent and accountable to the public,” said FPF's @laurenleharper.bsky.social

Freedom of the Press Foundation@freedom.press · 5d ago

The Pentagon's proposal to exempt “controlled unclassified information” from FOIA would allow the agency to unilaterally hide millions of files — potentially forever. Today a broad coalition of rights organizations urged Congress to reject this secrecy grab.

Questionable ties between US Virgin Islands officials & Epstein have come to light, but that was because of lawsuits & federal investigations, not a functional public records system. Please join me, the VI Source, and @freedom.press in our quest for more transparency. freedom.press/issues/us-vi...

US Virgin Islands need transparency to weed out corruption

Use our action center to tell officials there to fix the territory’s archaic public records laws

freedom.press

We've been pushing for a federal reporter's privilege law for years, but the Trump administration is making the case better than we ever could. The next Congress needs to pass the PRESS Act so FBI agents stop showing up at freelance journalists' doors with subpoenas.

Justice Dept. Subpoenas Times Freelancer in Effort to Identify Sources (Gift Article)

A previously undisclosed subpoena, involving reporting on a failed SEAL Team 6 mission in North Korea, reflects the government’s expanding campaign to investigate leaks of secrets.

nytimes.com

Fauci faced a grilling because he preserved his records. The Trump administration doesn’t. "The Trump administration is actively shredding its own paper trail, preventing future accountability," FPF's @laurenleharper.bsky.social writes in @ms.now.

Opinion | The Fauci hearing takeaway that the Trump administration doesn’t want you to notice

Lauren Harper: The Trump administration is actively shredding its own paper trail, preventing future accountability.

ms.now

MSG’s new lawsuit against @wired.com isn’t just about defamation. It’s an attack on the newsgathering process itself. If journalists can be sued for talking to sources with NDAs, powerful institutions have another way to keep their secrets.

MSG revives legal theory that once haunted ‘60 Minutes’

Journalists don’t lose First Amendment protections just because a source signed an NDA

freedom.press

If you use Signal to work with sensitive contacts, it’s not a “set it and forget it” app. You do need to maintain the safety of your account. Our digital security team walks through foundational account security settings to help.

What journalists need to know about Signal account safety

There are a few straightforward steps you can take to make your account and identity much more secure

freedom.press

Fauci faced a grilling because he preserved his records. The Trump administration doesn’t. "The Trump administration is actively shredding its own paper trail, preventing future accountability," FPF's @laurenleharper.bsky.social writes in @ms.now.

Opinion | The Fauci hearing takeaway that the Trump administration doesn’t want you to notice

Lauren Harper: The Trump administration is actively shredding its own paper trail, preventing future accountability.

ms.now

📢 Are you a journalist who uses FOIA or other public records laws in your reporting? You could win $25K with our new journalism award, the Penlight Prize. Submission deadline: Sept. 1, 2026 Read more and apply today:

New $25K ‘Penlight’ journalism award honors paywall-free FOIA reporting

The Penlight Prize celebrates paywall-free reporting based on records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act or state public records laws.

freedom.press

We've been pushing for a federal reporter's privilege law for years, but the Trump administration is making the case better than we ever could. The next Congress needs to pass the PRESS Act so FBI agents stop showing up at freelance journalists' doors with subpoenas.

Justice Dept. Subpoenas Times Freelancer in Effort to Identify Sources (Gift Article)

A previously undisclosed subpoena, involving reporting on a failed SEAL Team 6 mission in North Korea, reflects the government’s expanding campaign to investigate leaks of secrets.

nytimes.com

The Pentagon's proposal to exempt “controlled unclassified information” from FOIA would allow the agency to unilaterally hide millions of files — potentially forever. Today a broad coalition of rights organizations urged Congress to reject this secrecy grab.

FPF urges Congress not to rubber-stamp Pentagon secrecy

Blanket FOIA exemption would hide unclassified records from the public. That’s dangerous and unnecessary

freedom.press