THE CAMPAIGN TO SILENCE THE PRESS
Wednesday, November 13, 2024
“Journalism should not be a crime anywhere on Earth. On World Press Freedom Day, we honor the bravery and sacrifice of journalists and media workers around the world, risking everything in pursuit of truth. “
~President Joe Biden
BY William E. Cleary Sr. | CNBNews Editor
GLOUCESTER CITY, NJ (November 13,2024)--In 1993, the United Nations declared a special day to highlight the significance of journalism in free societies. It was named World Press Freedom Day, celebrated every year on May 3rd. Its purpose is to emphasize the essential role of journalism in promoting transparency and democracy. However, The Guardian reports a new study finds political attacks on press freedom, including the detention of journalists, suppression of independent media outlets, and widespread dissemination of misinformation, are on the rise. The findings stem from the annual World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders.
On the occasion of World Press Day, which was recognized this year on Friday, May 3, 2024, President Biden issued a statement emphasizing the importance of journalists. “Journalism should not be a crime anywhere on Earth. On World Press Freedom Day, we honor the bravery and sacrifice of journalists and media workers around the world risking everything in pursuit of truth. “
FOUR REPORTERS ARRESTED SINCE JANUARY 1
Caitlin Vogus, a Freedom of the Press Foundation reporter, wrote, “Just a few months into 2024, the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented four arrests or detentions of journalists covering protests in New York, Tennessee, and California. None of these arrests have received much attention or public outcry. That’s a shame. These arrests violate journalists’ rights and undermine the public's right to learn about newsworthy events happening in their communities.”
Vogus said, “They also show the disturbing and stubborn persistence of a system of policing that either doesn’t know or doesn’t care about First Amendment rights. A closer look at each of the cases documented by the Tracker so far this year reveals that — even after large settlements or acknowledgments by the federal government that journalists must be allowed to cover protests — police around the country are still routinely arresting reporters who are simply doing their jobs.”
THE LEFT IS ATTACKING NEWS OUTLETS IN SMALL COMMUNITIES TOO
Across the nation, there exists a troubling issue with policing, a concern that the Freedom of the Press Foundation has highlighted. This challenge is not limited to larger urban areas but has also reached the small community of Gloucester City, New Jersey. In this town, a long-time journalist, William E. Cleary Sr., who has dedicated decades to reporting, was arrested in October 2022 on serious theft and trespassing charges.
Cleary is well-known in the community as the founder and editor of the blog gloucestercitynews.net, and he has spent 45 years serving as a reporter, editor, and publisher for the Camden County Record and Gloucester City News newspapers, becoming a respected figure in local journalism. The Gloucester City Police Department (GCPD) brought the charges against him and his son, alleging that they had removed a children’s bench from a location where it had been discarded. The bench, in question, had reportedly been lying upside down in a neglected trash pile behind the Cold Springs School for over a month, raising questions about the circumstances surrounding its removal.
Cleary claims he didn't know it wasn’t rubbish, but once he did, he contacted the police and returned it to the school, where he found out.
“I mistakenly thought it was trash because it was lying next to a dumpster. And it was in a pile with other stuff being thrown out,” Cleary said. “I believe that someone or some people in power saw my mistake as a chance to get even with me for my investigative reporting. In the past year, I wrote the following in-depth articles:
Request for Investigation of Upper Echelon of Gloucester City Police Falls on Deaf Ears
*Public Works Supervisor stealing money from that department
*Gloucester City Police Officers are one of the highest-paid departments in New Jersey
*The City of Gloucester City is upon 30 Cities with the highest property taxes
*The City Police Chief has been acting city administrator for four years. His salary $229,000.
*A fireman who set fire to the pants of a newly hired fireman while he was washing dishes
*A police officer throws a live chicken into the City’s Fire Headquarters
*Son of Gloucester City Councilman Arrested for Burglary; Charges Dropped and Case Dismissed by Camden County Prosecutor'
"I have been reporting on similar articles for over 56 years. I have “pissed” some people off for doing my job. This isn’t the first time, and it won’t be the last.”
“In 2013, I was informed that the City was purchasing commercial properties for a higher price than the owners were selling them for. I began investigating the allegation. However, it seems like the word got out that I was looking into it. The new newspaper owner I worked for received a visit from the City's Business Association officers and a council member who threatened to pull their advertisements if I wasn't let go. Consequently, the new owner emailed me the next day, stating that I had been fired.
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Justice Must Be for All, Not Just a Few
"Our case never made it to trial; it was continuously postponed," said Cleary. Eventually, we were offered a plea bargain with the condition that the felony charges would be dropped. We accepted the offer since we were facing increasing legal bills and fines. If allowed to explain my side of the story, I would have told the court that I was gathering information for an article about the amount of office and student equipment that was being discarded. Some of it was damaged, but a considerable amount was not. I took pictures of the bench, mentioned in the police report, for this reason," said Cleary. I saw padded desk chairs, file cabinets, office desks, supply cabinets, children's desks, chalkboards, and rugs being thrown away."
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MORE EVIDENCE OF NATIONWIDE EVIDENCE TO SILENCE THE PRESS
More evidence of the nationwide evidence to silence the press happened in Texas. In response, The Society of Professional Journalists has assembled a coalition of 43 signatories, including journalism organizations, First Amendment advocacy groups, and media unions. They are all calling on the Texas Department of Public Safety to abandon its misguided pursuit of criminal charges against photojournalist Carlos Sanchez, who was arrested while covering protests at the University of Texas at Austin.
Vogus reported, “None of these arrests have received much attention or public outcry. That’s a shame. These arrests violate journalists’ rights, and they undermine the right of the public to learn about newsworthy events happening in their communities. They also show the disturbing and stubborn persistence of a system of policing that either doesn’t know or doesn’t care about First Amendment rights.”
She also mentioned;
New York arrests come as police resist settlement
New York City’s largest police union, the Police Benevolent Association, fought tooth and nail against a settlementthe city entered into last year after being sued by photojournalists who claimed their First Amendment rights were violated while covering protests in 2020. The settlement acknowledges the right of the press to record police in public and sets rules for officers’ interactions with journalists covering protests.
Tennessee ‘catch and release’ stymies coverage
Another reporter arrest in Tennessee shows how “catch and release” policies can stymie ongoing attempts by journalists to document protests and how intimidation tactics can chill future reporting.
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THE HUNTER BIDEN LAPTOP STORY WAS NOT RUSSIAN DISINFORMATION
Lastly, it is hard not to mention the concerted effort by Federal agencies such as the CIA, the FBI, the National Security Agency, etc, along with social media companies shutting down the Hunter Bidden laptop months before the 2020 Presidential election. It is no telling how many people would have voted for Trump if that information about the laptop had been released to the public. Instead, the people/voters were told it was Russian disinformation.
The excerpt below from a 2022 New York Post article titled How the government hid the truth behind Hunter Biden’s laptop sums up how agencies in our federal government worked together to overthrow an election. That report should scare every American across our nation. It was a political coup, something you would expect to read about that occurred in Cuba, Russia, China etc., but never in the United States. These individuals should be in jail or facing a firing squad for the crimes they committed.
The more we find out about the collusion that has been going on among the Biden administration, the security agencies and Big Tech, the more alarming it is — and the more unrepentant they are.
The latest bombshell from the Intercept, based on communications unveiled in the federal lawsuit Missouri v. Biden, shows that the Department of Homeland Security has been having monthly meetings with Facebook and Twitter to pressure them to censor social media posts about topics such as the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan, the origins of COVID-19, the efficacy of COVID vaccines, racial justice and US support for the war in Ukraine — in other words, anything that could be detrimental to public support for the Biden administration. The latest bombshell from the Intercept, based on communications unveiled in the federal lawsuit Missouri v. Biden, shows that the Department of Homeland Security has been having monthly meetings with Facebook and Twitter to pressure them to censor social media posts about topics such as the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan, the origins of COVID-19, the efficacy of COVID vaccines, racial justice and US support for the war in Ukraine — in other words, anything that could be detrimental to public support for the Biden administration.
We already know that the FBI was involved in efforts to censor and bury information that might have harmed Joe Biden’s candidacy back in 2020, including The Post’s exclusive about Hunter Biden’s laptop in October 2020. That amounted to election interference, which prevented the American people from doing the necessary due diligence on one of the two presidential candidates. So successful was the strategy that the Biden administration appears to have expanded it.
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