How many times have you been told that the United States offers the most press freedom and journalist protections in the world? It’s bullshit, of course. If the press was really free journalists would be able to maintain the anonymity of their sources because the right of free speech should also include the right to keep quiet. Here in Soviet America a journalist only has the right to remain silent when the state says so:
WASHINGTON — In a major ruling about press freedoms, a divided federal appeals court on Friday ruled that James Risen, an author and reporter for The New York Times, must testify in the criminal trial of a former Central Intelligence Agency official charged with providing him with classified information.
National Twitter Logo.In a 118-page set of opinions, two members of a three-judge panel for the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Richmond, Va. — the court whose decisions cover the Pentagon and the C.I.A. — ruled that the First Amendment provides no protection to reporters who receive unauthorized leaks from being forced to testify against the alleged sources who leaked to them.
If you’re a journalist who is pushing the state’s agenda you can be reasonably assured that your rights will be protected. If you’re a journalist who isn’t towing the company line you can be reasonably assured that your rights will be violated.