From Subpoenas to Cockroaches: Journalist Intimidation 101

This week, several New York Times reporters were subpoenaed by the Justice Department for their reporting on Air Force One. On this week’s On the Media, how a fifty-year-old Supreme Court ruling left journalists exposed to this kind of legal challenge. Plus, hear how Ebay employees launched a bizarre harassment campaign against a couple of e-commerce reporters.

[01:00] Micah Loewinger interviews Matt Gertz, senior fellow at Media Matters, about Todd Blanche’s recent confirmation hearings, his track record of being a Trump loyalist and frequent Fox News guest, and what his appointment reveals about the shifting independence of the attorney general from the White House. 

[16:39] Micah speaks with Lee Levine, media lawyer and author of the upcoming book  In Bad Faith: Earl Caldwell and the Fight for a Free Press, about the Justice Department delivering subpoenas to New York Times journalists for reporting on security concerns regarding the president’s new Air Force One, and what we can learn from the history of past presidential administrations weaponizing subpoenas against the press.

[32:11]  Brooke Gladstone sits down with Jenny Carchman, director of the documentary Whatever It Takes: Inside the eBay Scandal, to discuss the harassment and intimidation campaign carried out against Ina and David Steiner, the authors of an online e-commerce trade publication, using tactics straight out of horror movies. 

Further reading / watching:

• “With Todd Blanche, MAGA media is finally getting its dream AG,” by Matt Gertz
• “The Subpoenas Are Coming! The Subpoenas Are Coming!” by Lee Levine
• In Bad Faith: Earl Caldwell and the Fight for a Free Press by Lee Levine.
• Whatever It Takes: Inside the eBay Scandal

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