In response to reports that National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard is attempting to curb the publication and sale of Ronan Farrow’s upcoming book, Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators, by threatening its publisher with a libel suit and issuing threats to booksellers in the U.K., PEN America issued the following statement:  
 
“Threatening a libel suit for a book that has not yet been released–and which Howard appears not to have read–is not only absurd but a reprehensible attempt at censorship. That this threat comes from a member of the media flies in the face of everything journalism should stand for–the open exchange of information and the right of the public to know and to make its own judgments. Booksellers should never become targets over the books they sell, and publishers should not have to brave the threat of legal action to publish a book.  It seems clear that it is very much in the public’s interest to read and assess Farrow’s book for themselves; Howard would be wise to wait until it is published and then do the same.”  
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PEN America stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect open expression in the United States and worldwide. We champion the freedom to write, recognizing the power of the word to transform the world. Our mission is to unite writers and their allies to celebrate creative expression and defend the liberties that make it possible.
 
Contact: Suzanne Trimel, [email protected]