The President holds a sprawling press conference answering dozens of questions, but directing pointed insults with racist and anti-semitic overtones at specific journalists, as well as broadsides culminating about leaks, CNN, and other purveyors of what he regards as “fake news”. Fox News’ Shepard Smith breaks with network norms to defend fellow journalists. Longtime Republican communications operative Mike Dubke is rumored to be the incoming WH Communications Director. PEN America announces Gender and Power: the 13th annual PEN World Voices Festival, taking place in NYC May 1-7.
-Suzanne Nossel, Executive Director

 

DARE: Daily Alert on Rights and Expression

PEN America’s take on today’s most pressing threats to free expression

U.S.

Trump Denies ‘Ranting and Raving’ in Extraordinary Press Conference
It’s hardly a surprise for a man who has lived his entire adult life cultivating and attacking coverage in the tabloids to continue that practice in the White House.
TIME

Donald Trump Just Launched A War On Whistleblowers
President Donald Trump is launching a war on leakers, attempting to turn a story about the firing of his national security adviser, Michael Flynn, into a campaign to purge and clean out intelligence agencies.
HUFFINGTON POST

Twitter’s New Censorship Tools Are Moving Us Towards The End Of Free Speech
Earlier this morning social media and the tech press lit up with reports of users across Twitter receiving half day suspensions en masse as the platform abruptly rolled out its decade-overdue hate speech filter to its platform.
FORBES

Trump campaign sends survey on media bias that is, well, pretty biased
An e-mail blast sent from the Trump-Pence campaign asked supporters to take a survey “to do your part to fight back against the media’s attacks and deceptions.”
BOSTON GLOBE

Trump Ends the Presidential Press Conference As We Know It
What seems plain in retrospect is that Trump has no intention to use presidential press conferences the way his predecessors have employed them.
NEW YORK MAGAZINE

 
Global

Turkish cult satirical magazine shut down over Moses cartoon
Publishers say they have closed down Turkey’s once top-selling satirical magazine following a cartoon that was deemed to be offensive to Jews and Muslims.
ABC NEWS

Venezuelan Dictator Maduro Shuts Down CNN Website in Venezuela
Venezuela will be blocking access to CNN following President Nicolás Maduro’s order to have the United States-based media outlet removed from the country.
PANAM POST

Kuwait lawyer sues blogger in ‘royal’s’ defamation case
Lawyer Al-Seif alleged that Twitter user Bo Yabis aimed to defame and tarnish the reputation of His Highness Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad.
ARAB TIMES

Trial Postponed For Crimean Journalist Charged With Separatism
A preliminary hearing into the “separatism” case against journalist Mykola Semena, an RFE/RL contributor who has angered Moscow over his reporting, has been postponed.
RADIO FREE EUROPE RADIO LIBERTY

South African journalist captured in Syria alive‚ says NGO
Captured South African journalist Shiraaz Mohamed is alive in Syria and could be home within a month.
SOWETAN LIVE

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