Podcasts about media freedom

Live from the Franschhoek Literary Festival, John Maytham is joined by Judge Dennis Davis following a trilogy of riveting conversations that explored the moral and political tensions shaping South Africa and the world in 2025. What Is Jewishness in 2025? Maughan vs Zuma, Cutting to the Chase Presenter John Maytham is an actor and author-turned-talk radio veteran and seasoned journalist. His show serves a round-up of local and international news coupled with the latest in business, sport, traffic and weather. The host’s eclectic interests mean the program often surprises the audience with intriguing book reviews and inspiring interviews profiling artists. A daily highlight is Rapid Fire, just after 5:30pm. CapeTalk fans call in, to stump the presenter with their general knowledge questions. Another firm favourite is the humorous Thursday crossing with award-winning journalist Rebecca Davis, called “Plan B”. Thank you for listening to a podcast from Afternoon Drive with John Maytham Listen live on Primedia+ weekdays from 15:00 and 18:00 (SA Time) to Afternoon Drive with John Maytham broadcast on CapeTalk https://buff.ly/NnFM3Nk For more from the show go to https://buff.ly/BSFy4Cn or find all the catch-up podcasts here https://buff.ly/n8nWt4x Subscribe to the CapeTalk Daily and Weekly Newsletters https://buff.ly/sbvVZD5 Follow us on social media: CapeTalk on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CapeTalk CapeTalk on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@capetalk CapeTalk on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ CapeTalk on X: https://x.com/CapeTalk CapeTalk on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CapeTalk567 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Uganda ranks 143rd out of 180 in the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Press Freedom Index. Journalists there face intimidation and violence on a nearly daily basis, according to the media watchdog. With Uganda set to hold a presidential election in 2026, RSF says it's "vital that journalists are able to work in complete safety."

What’s the state of South Africa’s media industry, particularly when it comes to press freedom? Africa speaks to Slindile Khanyile, Media Freedom Chair at South African National Editors’ Forum to find out. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The health sector throws up stories of serious crisis almost daily, but journalists find hard data hard to get. Also: media freedom worries increasing around the world - and Winston Peters' 'threat' to RNZ. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Sky Racing abruptly pulled a heavily promoted interview with Gai Waterhouse, sparking speculation over censorship amid a fierce debate on the proposed $5 billion sale of Rosehill Racecourse. Waterhouse, a vocal critic of the sale, believes her comments may have led to the program’s cancellation. The issue has deeply divided the Australian Turf Club (ATC) board, with chair Peter McGauran supporting the sale and vice-chair Tim Hale opposing it. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The media is a cornerstone of Indian democracy, often called the “fourth pillar” for its role in supporting constitutional values. Yet today, trust in the media is eroding amid technological upheaval, shifting revenue models, political polarization, and the powerful rise of social media and artificial intelligence. As these forces reshape how information flows, can the media still serve as a guardian of our constitutional ideals? And who, if anyone, will defend the independence and integrity of the media? This session is the third in the series titled ‘We the People' to celebrate 75 years of our Constitution. As part of this series, DAKSH, in collaboration with BIC, is organising a series of lectures and panel discussions on various aspects of the Constitution. In collaboration with: Daksh In this episode of BIC Talks, Barkha Dutt delivers a talk. This is an excerpt from a event that took place in the BIC premises in November 2024. Subscribe to the BIC Talks Podcast on your favorite podcast app! BIC Talks is available everywhere, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Overcast, Audible, and Amazon Music.

(00:01): Danmark er på vej til at udhule pressefriheden. Medvirkende: Mogens Blicher Bjerregård, formand for European Centre for Press and Media Freedom. (00:13): Trump truer med straftold, medmindre man laver sine varer i USA. Medvirkende: Henrik Ørholst, Erhvervskommentator for TV2 blandt andet. (00:29): Flere partier vil ikke afvise bloktilskud til Grønland efter eventuel selvstændighed. Medvirkende: Trine Pertou Mach, udenrigsordfører for Enhedslisten, Henrik Rejnholdt, grønlandsordfører for Moderaterne og Lars Boje Mathiesen, formand og stifter af Borgernes Parti. (00:39): TikTok-video er endt med dødstrusler og en politianmeldelse. Medvirkende: Signe Vedersø Keldorff, byrådskandidat for Dansk Folkeparti. Værter: Anne Phillipsen og Nicolai Dandanell See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Always remember that Lofi Poli Sci is more than just me, it's the we, that we be. Episode Link: https://youtu.be/D5QQxkJOQ1g Episode 2 Season 11 (series 893) YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/LofiPoliSciPodcast Instagram: lofi_poli_sci_podcast LinkedIn: Michael Pickering #lofipolisci #lofi #news #worldnews #podcast #politics #cats #medai #mediafreedoms #reporterssansfrontier #reporterswithoutborders

Free and independent media is a key pillar of democracy, but recently, worrying trends have emerged across Europe. In response, a new legal instrument was adopted at EU level - the European Media Freedom Act - which came into force on 7 May 2024. Most of its provisions will be applicable by 8 August 2025.The F.R.E.I.H.E.I.T project (Fact-checking & Reliable European Information to Help Europe Integrate Together) aims to address foreign interference in European media. Through fact-checked, independent editorial production, freelance journalists from Europe and the Eastern Neighbourhood are working to combat disinformation and promote reliable information.Media freedom remains under pressure in many Eastern Neighbourhood countries. Critics claim that Georgia struggles with disinformation, Moldova faces news bias, and Russian propaganda is replicated in Azerbaijan. There are also reports of an increase in disinformation in Armenia, and a deterioration of free speech in Belarus.Listen to this Euractiv Virtual Conference to discuss the state of media freedom in Europe. Journalists from the F.R.E.I.H.E.I.T project, reporting from Eastern Europe, will bring their on-the-ground experience to the conversation. Some questions to be addressed include:- What are the most pressing challenges to media freedom within the EU, and how do they differ from those in the Eastern Neighbourhood?- Does the European Media Freedom Act adequately address these issues? What improvements could be made?- How can EU countries provide more support to Eastern Neighbourhood journalists facing media freedom challenges?- How can EU-Eastern Neighbourhood collaboration be strengthened to combat shared disinformation threats?The sole responsibility for any content supported by the European Media and Information Fund lies with the author(s) and it may not necessarily reflect the positions of the EMIF and the Fund Partners, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and the European University Institute.

It's the 23 February 2022 and investigative journalist Anna Myroniuk is at home in Ukraine's capital Kiev, watching history unfold. President Putin has taken to the airwaves, delivering an address which any Ukrainian would immediately recognise as a declaration of war.For months there had been troop build ups and a steady drum of warnings that Russia was about to invade. Then, only a couple of hours after Putin's address, Anna awoke to the sounds of explosions outside her home.In this - the last episode of the series - Nicola speaks to Anna about how she and her colleagues continued to report from inside Ukraine despite missile strikes, internet shutdowns and an aggressive Russian disinformation campaign. She describes the complexities of setting up the Kyiv Independent after she and fifty of her co-workers were fired from another paper and the ongoing challenges of getting impartial information out of the country.Presented by Nicola KellyProducer: Kevin Caners

Unzufrieden mit dem Ausgang der Präsidentschaftsdebatte mit der US-Vizepräsidentin Kamala Harris, die von ABC News moderiert wurde, sagte der ehemalige US-Präsident Donald Trump, dass ABC seine Sendelizenz verlieren solle. Könnte er ihre Lizenz entziehen, wenn er wieder Präsident wird? Was könnte Trump tun, um die Pressefreiheit zu untergraben und Nachrichtenagenturen zu bedrohen, falls er eine zweite Amtszeit gewinnt?Joel Simon ist der Gründungsdirektor der Journalism Protection Initiative an der Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, die Teil der City University of New York ist. Er ist Autor von vier Büchern, darunter zuletzt The Infodemic: How Censorship and Lies Made the World Sicker and Less Free, das er gemeinsam mit Robert Mahoney verfasst hat. Er schreibt regelmäßig zu Themen der Pressefreiheit für den New Yorker und produziert eine Kolumne für die Columbia Journalism Review. Von 2006 bis 2021 war Joel Simon geschäftsführender Direktor des Committee to Protect Journalists.Das Gespräch ist Teil der Reihe "European Contexts", eine Kooperation von Presseclub Concordia, ERSTE Stiftung und fjum.

On 15 October 2023, Poland held parliamentary elections which signaled the end of the eight years in power of the right-wing conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party. In December, the PiS-led government was replaced by a liberal, opposition-led coalition. Media freedom, and in particular the situation at Poland's public service media, was one of the first issues tackled by the new government within days of taking office, as the cabinet led by Donald Tusk immediately sought to wrestle control of public media away from the outgoing PiS-led coalition. This included public television (TVP), Polish Radio as well as Poland's national news agency PAP. One of the first acts of the new government was to change the leadership of the public media by adopting a parliamentary resolution which declared the situation at public media as illegitimate and unconstitutional before calling on the authorities to take immediate action to restore the constitutional order and the “independence, objectivity and pluralism” of public media. In response, the minister of culture intervened  by replacing the members of the supervisory boards and senior management of the TVP, Polish Radio and PAP. In doing so the government by-passed the National Media Council (NMC) set up in 2016 by PiS to nominate senior PSM management and supervisors. This led to three weeks of protests led by PiS politicians and some TVP staff on the premises of Telewizia Polska and a political standoff between the government and Poland's President, Andrzej Duda, who tried to block the changes by rejecting the 2024 budget for the public media. Without funding the situation quickly became untenable and the then Minister of Culture,  Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz, placed the public media into a state of liquidation, a legal status for entities without sufficient funds to operate, which enabled the ministry to continue to finance the PSM directly until new reforms can be agreed. Nearly one year later, the legal uncertainty persists with public service media staff forced to work in a form of legal limbo without the security of guaranteed financing nor a management that has been appointed through an independent and transparent process. Summary: In this podcast episode, host Karol Łuczka speaks with Kamila Ceran, the editor-in-chief of Radio TOK FM, and with Robert Kwiatkowski, a member of the National Media Council in Poland, about the current state of public media in Poland. Łuczka, Ceran and Kwiatkowski discuss the significant changes in media freedom following the recent government transition, the ongoing political influence on public media, and the challenges of achieving true media independence. Ceran shares her insights on the politicization of media, the implications of funding, and the lack of shining examples of independent public media globally. Kwiatkowski shares insights on the role of the National Media Council and the future vision for public media, emphasizing the need for legal clarity and independence from political influence. The conversation concludes with reflections on the future of media in Poland and the complexities surrounding public funding. Takeaways: There is an improvement in quality of reporting and objectivity. Public media in Poland has faced significant politicization. The future of public media depends on upcoming presidential elections. Media independence has been a challenge for decades in Poland. The financing of public media is crucial for stability. Legal reforms are necessary for media independence. The situation of public media in Poland has dramatically changed since the government transition. Funding for public media is often controlled by politicians, affecting independence. The media landscape in Poland is challenging, with limited options for unbiased reporting. Public media do not fulfill their intended role of unbiased information dissemination. There is no clear solution for ensuring media independence in Poland.   Guests: Kamila Ceran, editor-in-chief of TOK FM and Robert Kwiatkowski, member of Poland's National Media Council Producer and Host: Karol Łuczka, Eastern Europe Monitoring and Advocacy Officer at International Press Institute (IPI) Editor: Javier Luque, head of digital communications at IPI Other episodes in this series: MFRR Podcast: Navigating Hungary's new Sovereignty Protection Act Related links: More ambitious reform needed to secure media freedom in Poland MFRR In Focus: How will the takeover of Polska Press in Poland impact the upcoming election?

In the wake of increasing threats, violence, and other challenges faced by journalists worldwide, the Council of Europe is hosting a conference - The Protection of Journalists - a multistakeholder dialogue - on 29-30 October in Room 8 at the Palais de l'Europe, Strasbourg. The event will highlight the importance of media safety, given the essential democratic function of journalists, especially raising awareness of the key role they perform during crises, elections, demonstrations, and conflict zones. As indicated in the 2024 report Media Freedom in Europe, from the Platform to promote the protection of journalism and safety of journalists, press freedom remains under threat in Europe: From the unlawful deployment of spyware and abusive lawsuits against journalists to physical attacks, intimidation, detention, and restrictive legislation, among other perils. Rooted in the Council of Europe's Recommendation CM/Rec(2016)4 on the Protection of Journalism and Safety of Journalists, and its four pillars: Prevention, Protection, Prosecution, and Promotion, the conference will mark the first of a series of four major events for the Council of Europe "Journalists Matter" Campaign, focusing on the Protection pillar. In a series of sessions, the participants - including public authorities, law enforcement, civil society, journalists/media organizations, and international organisations including Council of Europe representatives - will delve into legislative frameworks addressing violence against journalists and assess the efficacy of existing laws. They will explore ways to improve protection, including law enforcement, partnerships, and cooperation memoranda likely to improve media safety. They also will stress the importance of procedural guarantees in cases of deprivation of liberty, emphasizing the right to legal representation, medical assistance, etc. In addition, the conference also will gather what the Campaign calls "National Focal Points" (NFP), who act as the interface between domestic stakeholders entrusted with national chapters and the Council of Europe Secretariat. For media on location, the first day of the conference will end with two cultural events: The photo exhibit Executed Free Speech, by Ukrainian photographer Yevhen Zinchenko The projection of 20 Days in Mariupol, an Oscar-winning documentary by Pulitzer Prize Ukrainian journalist Mstyslav Chernov Media can follow the conference, which is entirely open to the public, upon prior registration.

It's 2011 and a spark has been lit, the Arab Spring sweeping across the Middle East and North Africa, toppling despotic regimes one by one. In the Syrian capital Damascus, journalist Ali Al-Ibrahim is studying for a master's degree at university when the protests reach the surrounding streets.It was a hopeful moment, that something might be about to change. Then the government of President Bashar al-Assad responded. The crackdowns against peaceful protesters were swift and harsh, and reports of torture, disappearances and killings followed soon after.In this episode of 'Silenced', Nicola Kelly speaks to Ali about his work investigating human rights abuses inside his country, the challenges of gathering evidence from exile, and the importance of cross-border work to hold the regime and ISIS militants to account for the atrocities they have committed.Presented by Nicola KellyProducer: Kevin Caners

Lecture summary: At a time where questions abound about the state and future of international cooperation and compliance across the international legal system, this lecture will consider the new partnership of countries established in 2019 to promote and protect media freedom globally – the Media Freedom Coalition of States. The Coalition offers a new paradigm that seeks to answer some of the systemic challenges to State cooperation and compliance today, here in the area of freedom of expression, and one that puts independent experts in international law at the very centre of its institutional and operational framework.The lecture will chart the establishment and work of the Coalition, through the perspective of its independent panel of legal experts, the High Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom, and the Panel's work advising States and international organisations across a broad panoply of media freedom issues, and answering requests by international courts and tribunals to intervene in cases of public importance engaging Article 19 of the ICCPR and UDHR. It will focus on examples of areas where specific recommendations by legal experts have already been turned into State policy and practice (for instance, with the creation and implementation of an emergency visa for journalists at risk), and areas where the progress towards implementation has been altogether more challenging.Five years on from its establishment, the Media Freedom Coalition finds itself at a crossroads, while its tri-partite structure of States, legal experts, and civil society is already being replicated by States in other areas of international legal cooperation and compliance.Speaker Biography: Can Yeğinsu is a barrister practising from 3 Verulam Buildings in London where he practises in commercial litigation, international commercial and investment arbitration, public law and human rights, and public international law.Prof Yeğinsu is also a long-standing member of the Law Faculties of Georgetown Law, Columbia Law, and Koç University Law School where he teaches courses on public international law, including courses on international dispute settlement, international human rights, and international investment law. He is a Senior Fellow at Columbia Law School's Human Rights Institute, and serves on the Executive Council of the American Society of International Law.In 2022, Prof Yeğinsu was appointed by the Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury, with Catherine Amirfar, to succeed Amal Clooney as the Deputy Chair of the High Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom, having served as a member of the Panel since its established in 2019.

Lecture summary: At a time where questions abound about the state and future of international cooperation and compliance across the international legal system, this lecture will consider the new partnership of countries established in 2019 to promote and protect media freedom globally – the Media Freedom Coalition of States. The Coalition offers a new paradigm that seeks to answer some of the systemic challenges to State cooperation and compliance today, here in the area of freedom of expression, and one that puts independent experts in international law at the very centre of its institutional and operational framework. The lecture will chart the establishment and work of the Coalition, through the perspective of its independent panel of legal experts, the High Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom, and the Panel’s work advising States and international organisations across a broad panoply of media freedom issues, and answering requests by international courts and tribunals to intervene in cases of public importance engaging Article 19 of the ICCPR and UDHR. It will focus on examples of areas where specific recommendations by legal experts have already been turned into State policy and practice (for instance, with the creation and implementation of an emergency visa for journalists at risk), and areas where the progress towards implementation has been altogether more challenging. Five years on from its establishment, the Media Freedom Coalition finds itself at a crossroads, while its tri-partite structure of States, legal experts, and civil society is already being replicated by States in other areas of international legal cooperation and compliance. Speaker Biography: Can Yeğinsu is a barrister practising from 3 Verulam Buildings in London where he practises in commercial litigation, international commercial and investment arbitration, public law and human rights, and public international law. Prof Yeğinsu is also a long-standing member of the Law Faculties of Georgetown Law, Columbia Law, and Koç University Law School where he teaches courses on public international law, including courses on international dispute settlement, international human rights, and international investment law. He is a Senior Fellow at Columbia Law School’s Human Rights Institute, and serves on the Executive Council of the American Society of International Law. In 2022, Prof Yeğinsu was appointed by the Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury, with Catherine Amirfar, to succeed Amal Clooney as the Deputy Chair of the High Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom, having served as a member of the Panel since its established in 2019.

Lecture summary: At a time where questions abound about the state and future of international cooperation and compliance across the international legal system, this lecture will consider the new partnership of countries established in 2019 to promote and protect media freedom globally – the Media Freedom Coalition of States. The Coalition offers a new paradigm that seeks to answer some of the systemic challenges to State cooperation and compliance today, here in the area of freedom of expression, and one that puts independent experts in international law at the very centre of its institutional and operational framework.The lecture will chart the establishment and work of the Coalition, through the perspective of its independent panel of legal experts, the High Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom, and the Panel's work advising States and international organisations across a broad panoply of media freedom issues, and answering requests by international courts and tribunals to intervene in cases of public importance engaging Article 19 of the ICCPR and UDHR. It will focus on examples of areas where specific recommendations by legal experts have already been turned into State policy and practice (for instance, with the creation and implementation of an emergency visa for journalists at risk), and areas where the progress towards implementation has been altogether more challenging.Five years on from its establishment, the Media Freedom Coalition finds itself at a crossroads, while its tri-partite structure of States, legal experts, and civil society is already being replicated by States in other areas of international legal cooperation and compliance.Speaker Biography: Can Yeğinsu is a barrister practising from 3 Verulam Buildings in London where he practises in commercial litigation, international commercial and investment arbitration, public law and human rights, and public international law.Prof Yeğinsu is also a long-standing member of the Law Faculties of Georgetown Law, Columbia Law, and Koç University Law School where he teaches courses on public international law, including courses on international dispute settlement, international human rights, and international investment law. He is a Senior Fellow at Columbia Law School's Human Rights Institute, and serves on the Executive Council of the American Society of International Law.In 2022, Prof Yeğinsu was appointed by the Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury, with Catherine Amirfar, to succeed Amal Clooney as the Deputy Chair of the High Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom, having served as a member of the Panel since its established in 2019.

The managing editor of Tanzania's newspaper, The Citizen, says his company, Mwananchi Communications Limited, is engaging the Tanzanian government for a way forward following the suspension of four of its print and digital publications. The Communications Regulatory Authority, a government-run regulatory body, suspended the license of the media house for 30 days for publishing what it calls “prohibited content.” Mpoki Thomson spoke with VOA's James Butty

The managing editor of Tanzania's newspaper, The Citizen, says his company, Mwananchi Communications Limited, is engaging the Tanzanian government for a way forward following the suspension of four of its print and digital publications. The Communications Regulatory Authority, a government-run regulatory body, suspended the license of the media house for 30 days for publishing what it calls “prohibited content.” Mpoki Thomson spoke with VOA's James Butty

Today the Wagner Group is known to many for the role it played in Russia's invasion of Ukraine. But in 2018, when Nigerian journalist Philip Obaji Jr began to investigate their activities in Africa, the group was still largely unknown.What Philip discovered was human rights atrocities on an unimaginable scale. In central and west Africa, the Wagner Group was exploiting the natural resources to fund Russia's proxy wars, seizing gold mining sites and opening fire on the communities that lived nearby. One day in December 2023, Philip went on a high-risk reporting trip to the Central African Republic to visit a community of gold miners. But within an hour of arriving in a border village, he was captured, badly beaten and detained.In this week's episode, Philip tells Nicola about the risks he took to expose the truth about Putin's paramilitaries and their crimes in Africa. Presented by Nicola KellyProducer: Kevin Caners

On 15 August 2021, veteran journalist Sanjar Sohail watched in horror as the Afghan capital Kabul fell to the Taliban once again. Though he was safe at his home in Canada, Sanjar was responsible for a network of reporters across Afghanistan. Fifteen years earlier, he had set up Hasht-e-Subh. The media outlet had gained notoriety for its investigative reporting, pioneering a new type of journalism previously unfamiliar to Afghans. Its reporters were known for their tenacity, digging up stories that those in power wanted to bury. Now that the Taliban had returned, the lives of all those who worked for the platform were at immediate risk. In this episode, Nicola speaks to Sanjar about his recollections from the day of the takeover; how his network of reporters operate under the Taliban, and what he and his colleagues do to ensure sources still inside Afghanistan are protected.Presented by Nicola KellyProducer: Kevin Caners

Though few people are aware, Vietnam now ranks at the bottom of all major global press indexes, its freedom of expression considered only slightly better than China and North Korea. In the midst of the global pandemic, a prominent author and journalist, Pham Doan Trang, was arrested on trumped-up charges of anti-state propaganda. She now faces nine years in prison.In this episode, Nicola speaks to Trang's colleague Quỳnh-Vi Trần about the challenges of getting impartial information out of one of the most repressive media environments in the world.Presented by Nicola KellyProducer: Kevin Caners

Holding ministers to account and also amplifying their spending statements without scrutiny; two editors in Asia holding the line on media freedom; update on advocacy ad angst.

For many years, Brazilian investigative journalist Juliana Dal Piva had been a human rights reporter. But in 2019, when President Jair Bolsonaro rose to power, her attention turned towards corruption at the highest levels of government. Her investigations were to put her on a collision course with the President's supporters and the military and commercial elites close to him.In this episode, Juliana tells Nicola about the personal and professional ramifications of exposing the truth, the death threats she has faced and why she believes that journalists play such a vital role in holding power to account.Presented by Nicola KellyProducer: Kevin Caners

On 16 September 2022, Iranian photojournalist Yalda Moaiery was out on the streets of the Iranian capital Tehran, capturing images of protests that were soon to sweep around the world.Days before, Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old girl from Kurdistan, had been arrested by Iran's morality police, accused of not wearing her headscarf properly. Shortly after that, news emerged that Mahsa had died in police custody. Though the authorities have always denied it, eyewitnesses say she was severely beaten by prison officers, later dying of the injuries she had sustained. It was a pivotal moment for hundreds of thousands of people in Iran, who took to the streets, chanting “Women, Life, Freedom”. In this episode, Nicola speaks to Yalda about being detained in the notorious Qarchak prison, what she witnessed at the protests and the brutal crackdowns that followed. Nearly two years on, how much has changed for women in Iran, and for those who expose the truth about what's really going on there?Presented by Nicola KellyProducer: Kevin CanersFollowed ARTICLE 19 on:Twitter: https://twitter.com/article19org Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ARTICLE19org LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/article19/

Though it rarely makes news headlines, in the Southern Caucasus a geopolitical battle is underway. Georgia is locked between democracy - with closer ties to Europe - and authoritarianism, with the Russian bear looming ever larger.It all started in April 2024, when a new law was introduced dubbed the 'foreign agent law', which mandated that any organisation receiving more than 20 per cent of its funds from abroad needed to register as organisations pursuing the interests of a foreign power. In response, tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets calling for closer union with NATO and the EU, and for the government to turn away from Russia. Here, Nicola Kelly speaks to Georgian journalist Tornike Mandaria about the growing movement and what these demonstrations tell us about the future of this embattled nation and its people.Presented by Nicola KellyProducer: Kevin Caners

Today, we are thrilled to host Abhinandan Sekhri, a decorated journalist and the CEO and co-founder of NewsLaundry. Join us as we embark on a deep dive into a multitude of critical and engaging topics that are shaping the media landscape in India today.

On 29 March 2023, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was on a field trip in the Ural mountains of Russia when he was arrested on spurious charges of espionage.Russia's FSB - the successor to the Soviet-era KGB - had accused Evan of attempting to obtain classified information about a large military industrial complex, charging him with spying; charges the Journal, the US government and Evan's family have always strenuously denied.In this episode of 'Silenced', host Nicola Kelly speaks to Ann Simmons, Moscow Bureau Chief for the Wall Street Journal and Evan's boss. Ann describes the ways in which the climate has changed for reporters covering Russia over recent years. She also sets out what happened on the day of Evan's arrest, the conditions in which he is being held and the chilling precedent his case sets for all those trying to get reliable, impartial information out of Russia.Presented by Nicola KellyProducer: Kevin Caners

Critics of Hungary's current government under right-wing prime minister Viktor Orbán allege that there is a serious lack of media freedom in the country. In this episode, Gergely Szilvay, journalist for the conservative Hungarian publication Mandiner.How has the Orbán government involved itself in media? Has left-leaning media been able to survive in Hungary? How have Orbán's attempts to promote conservative media shaped Hungarian public opinion? Szilvay addresses these topics and more.Az MCC Podcast adásaiban érdekes emberekkel izgalmas témákról beszélgetünk. Feldolgozzuk a közélet, a gazdaság, a társadalom fontosabb aktuális történéseit, de olyan kérdéseket is napirendre veszünk, mint például a művészet, a család vagy a vallás. Vendégeink között oktatóink, kutatóink, vendégelőadóink kapnak helyet. Mindenkinek kellemes időtöltést és szellemi feltöltődést kívánunk.

Julian Assange became the centre of global attention after the organisation he founded, Wikileaks, released thousands of documents about the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, along with diplomatic cables. His case was bound up in legal battles with the US government until this week, when it emerged that he had agreed a plea deal which would allow him to return to his native Australia.Is the Assange case a triumph or a blow for press freedom? What responsibilities do journalists have to the safety and security of nations and their peoples when they publish information about issues of national security? Does the case set a precedent for governments to increase their grip, their control of how journalists do their work? Audrey Carville was joined by former journalist and author Mihir Bose, the former head of the Royal Navy- Admiral Alan West, and Professor Deirdre Heenan of Ulster University.

With western media outlets dubbing the conflict in Sudan a “forgotten war”, what role do journalists play in making sure the world doesn't look away?On the morning of 15 April 2023, Al Jazeera's Sudan correspondent Hiba Morgan was up early, preparing to head out on a reporting trip northwest of the capital Khartoum. There had been something in the air for months; a sense that a feud between two generals - one from the Sudanese army, and the other from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF - was about to come to a head. But nobody could have known the scale of the war that was about to unfold around them. In this episode, Nicola talks to Hiba, the last remaining international correspondent based in Khartoum. She describes the atrocities she has witnessed, the complexities of verifying information when the situation is unclear and changing rapidly, and the determination to continue reporting from inside Sudan.Presented by Nicola KellyProducer: Kevin Caners

In the early hours of 7 October 2023, news rolled in which was a completely different scale to anything Israeli photojournalist Oren Ziv had ever covered before. He grabbed his cameras and headed south to the border villages. Not long after that, he and his colleagues came under fire from Hamas militants who had broken through the border wall.Later, Oren visited the site of the Nova music festival and kibbutz where Israelis had attempted to flee the attacks. He spoke to the families of those taken hostage by Hamas, attended funerals and morgues, and covered the looting of Palestinians' homes in the West Bank.In this episode, Oren tells host Nicola Kelly about the attacks on 7 October, how it felt to come under fire from Hamas and what it has been like to cover the war from the frontline. Presented by Nicola KellyProducer: Kevin Caners

Show Notes and Transcript Christina Bobb joins Hearts of Oak to discuss her military background, transition to media and involvement in the RNC's campaign for election integrity. We kick off with some exploration into her book "Stealing Your Vote" for insights into the 2020 election and Christina shares challenges she faced at OAN for calling out failings in the 2020 election while emphasizing the importance of election integrity.  The conversation covers alternative media platforms, social media influencers, and the impact of platforms like Twitter under Elon Musk in countering censorship.  Christina reflects on the Trump campaign's fundraising success, his connection with the audience, and addressing key issues.  We conclude with a focus on upcoming elections, serving the American people, and restoring power to citizens. Christina Bobb is an investigative reporter, attorney, and former television show host and correspondent with One America News Network, where she reported almost exclusively on election integrity. Christina began her legal career in the United States Marine Corps, serving as a defense counsel representing marines and sailors in court-martial and administrative separation hearings. She served in multiple overseas tours including Helmand Province, Afghanistan, and Stuttgart, Germany. After her military service, Ms. Bobb transitioned to private practice at Higgs, Fletcher, & Mack LLP in San Diego, and then to Washington, DC, where she held executive level positions within the Department of Homeland Security. Christina currently serves as attorney for President Donald J. Trump at the Republican National Committee. Connect with Christine... X/TWITTER        x.com/christina_bobb 'Stealing Your Vote: The Inside Story of the 2020 Election and What It Means for 2024'  Available in hardback, audio-book and e-book   amzn.eu/d/6cPQjOv Interview recorded 12.6.24 Connect with Hearts of Oak... X/TWITTER        x.com/HeartsofOakUK WEBSITE            heartsofoak.org/ PODCASTS        heartsofoak.podbean.com/ SOCIAL MEDIA  heartsofoak.org/connect/ SHOP                  heartsofoak.org/shop/ Transcript (Hearts of Oak) I am delighted to be joined by a brand new guest, one I've seen on a number of podcasts recently. I'm delighted she can join us, and that's Christina Bobb. Christina, thank you so much for your time today. (Christina Bobb) Thanks so much for having me, Peter. Good to have you on, and lots to talk about. I know you're centrally involved in the campaign there at the RNC, but people obviously can follow you. @Christina_Bobb is on Twitter. That's the main place, and you can get everything from there. But just to our viewers, to our half-and-half US, UK, to our UK viewers who maybe haven't come across, you're former US Marine, former OAN host, and since March you've been attorney at the RNC Republican National Committee, leading election integrity programs, and we'll get into all of that. And your Wikipedia describes you as mega-maga. That's quite cool. You're not just maga. And, of course, you're the author of Stealing Your Vote, the inside story of the 2020 election and what it means for 2024. And any book published by Skyhorse, we've had Tony Lyons on before, or have an introduction by Stephen K. Bannon, is absolutely wonderful. So a shout-out to the War Room posse that will be joining us and watching this interview. But, Christina, I read on your Wikipedia, it could be true, it may not be, but you played football at university, like proper football, like British football, not just American. Right, I played British football, right? I was a soccer player. Yeah. So tell us, because obviously uni and then you were involved in media. Just tell us a little bit about that before we get on to the campaign. And, of course, you bring your legal understanding to that. But you were hired by OAN back in 2020. And I remember I was there maybe a year ago, 18 months ago, getting a tour of the offices in D.C. And it's a phenomenal setup. But I know you were there as an anchor in 2020. I mean, how did that happen? How did it end up you moving into media? Yeah. So I had been in the military. Prior to that, I'd been in the military. And then once I got out, I was an attorney. I worked as a lawyer in San Diego. I was a litigator and didn't really plan on getting into media. I missed my government work. I liked doing national security work. I have a, an LLM and national security law, and it's harder to do that. At least from San Diego, certainly you can do it at firms here in DC. So, I came back to DC and joined the Trump administration of the department of homeland security. And right before the 2020 election, a few months before, well, maybe like February, so nine months before, I kind of got a wild hair and was like, Hey, I might be able to make a bigger impact in media. So I transitioned to One America News, who had a good presence here in D.C. So I left the administration and joined One America News to cover the administration. And I definitely had a bigger impact in media than I did working in the administration. So it's kind of been flying by the seat of my pants, hang on and just do what you can to make a difference. and it's been kind of a wild ride. Of course, at OAN, you were one of the people, and we'll maybe touch on how that has impacted you, but you were one of the people to call out failings you saw in the election in many aspects. And you were, I guess, had a position with OAN. You were calling out what you were seeing. And what was that like? Because I remember looking at it from this side of the pond, from far away and seeing the massive debate over that with individuals happy to speak up on what they saw and others saying, no, no, no, no, we can't really do that because of X, Y, and Z. What kind of gave you the, I guess, the boldness to just call out what you saw? I didn't think it was bold at the time, to be honest. I thought it was just obvious. And to be honest, I think maybe in the UK and overseas, y'all might have a better perspective than we do here in the United States, because you can kind of see it from a distance. When you're in the middle of it, it can be a lot harder to see and discern what's happening. I didn't feel bold. I just thought, I didn't understand what was happening. And I figured if I didn't understand what was happening, the viewers didn't understand what was happening. And so I was trying to just walk people through my own thought process and my own investigation of what I was looking into. On November 3rd, 2020 election night, I was reporting from the White House, the North Lawn of the White House. And I was just honest with the viewers. And I was like, this doesn't make a lot of sense. I don't know why they're calling Arizona a West Coast state, minutes after they called Florida probably one of the furthest East states, if not the furthest East state. So that doesn't make a lot of sense. We basically skipped the country. So I didn't feel bold. I was just trying to be honest in my reporting. And immediately I started getting attacked. I mean, I had been a reporter for a couple months at that point. I think I started at One America News June 1st or right around the beginning of June. So it had been less than six months that I had been a reporter. And I was getting, YouTube was coming after me, CNBC. A lot of the bigger networks were trying to shut me down, which I thought was so bizarre. I was like, I'm barely a reporter. Like, why are you coming after me? And then it was almost like the more they came after me, the more people started paying attention. And, I ended up sticking with the story for years. I thought I was just covering it, from election night until when we actually got a result. But I got attacked so much that it just made me go, oh, okay, well, I need to keep covering this. This is a thing. And so I kept digging into it and ended up writing a book about it. But it really was the voracious attacks that I received that caused me to go, oh, okay, there's something here. Because there's a difference, I guess, between someone who's been a host maybe 10, 15, 20 years and they can say what they like because they're kind of bulletproof in one way and they've got a track record or a reputation with someone just into the media fairly new. You kind of think, well, maybe I should just play this safe. I mean, what was that, I guess, OAN gave you, the freedom that maybe other networks would not have? Well, they did. And I'll counter your summary just a little bit. I think the people that have been in the business for 10, 20, 30 years have been in the business that long because they don't say whatever they want to say. They're parroting what the networks are telling them to say, and they're parroting what the narrative is supposed to be, not what's actually happening. And OAN didn't do that. I give them a lot of credit. They said, go report. And so I did, I took it quite literally. And I think, I think the left, is not just the left, it was really the political establishment, because we see now that it's both Republicans and Democrats in the United States that have been causing these problems and have really kind of bound our election system the way that they want it. But OAN grew, grew in popularity a lot in the the years prior to me joining, I think largely because of their coverage of Donald Trump, people wanted to see it. And so OAN had a really large following. For a while, they were the fourth ranked cable news network. Of course, now they've been de-platformed in many areas and they've had a lot of attacks come themselves. But because OAN actually had a bigger following than people want to pretend, our message was getting out, right? Not just mine, but there were other reporters in the network as a whole that were just standing behind the idea that, hey, we're not sure that this election was real. We think there were problems in a variety of areas. Let's dig into it. Let's investigate and see what we find. And I'm grateful. I'm grateful that that's the stance they took. And I think because they took that stance, the story is still alive today. You know, there's still Americans today that think there's problems with the 2020 election. A lot. I would say a majority of Americans believe that. And now the whole January 6th narrative is unraveling. And I think that's largely because of OAN and those of us that were willing to speak out and tell the truth. Well, I want to come back to you on media. And we had Maureen Bannon on just on Monday discussing this. But obviously in the war room and what they feel. But I want to come back, but I want to get on to your role now, because we've just had elections here in Europe. We have UK elections coming up. We're able to count our ballots within 24 hours and have ourselves. I know you guys like to take a few months over it. But election integrity is a massive issue. And I know that others have told me, you know, it's the border, it's the economy. But actually, election integrity, what's the point of voting if your vote doesn't matter? I mean, tell us about that and your work, because you have each state to actually cope with, where in the UK it's one system. So it is a much more difficult, arduous process you face. But what is, election integrity and what does that mean to most of the voters in the U.S.? Well, I can speak for conservatives because I think it's different. You know, Democrats, I think, are very good at changing language and trying to make things mean things that they don't. So what election integrity actually is from a conservative perspective, and of course, I think it's the right perspective, is that everybody gets the every legal voter gets the opportunity to vote and that vote is counted and that we are not diluting votes with illegal voters and that people don't get to put their thumb on the scale by changing locations or the way that votes are processed. but everybody who is lawfully allowed to vote has the opportunity to vote. Only those votes are counted, but they're all counted and we live with those results. So the way it's processed in the United States, the way it's supposed to be processed is every state and every county are supposed to run their elections independently with their own processes. That's part of the security of it, right? To have a decentralized system. But we've seen over the years, there's been a lot of creep and a lot of the same companies are running, a lot of the counties are bringing in the same companies who run, half the country's elections. And a lot of the kind of inherent security that our founders built into our constitution and into the way we run our elections has really been degraded basically through corporate structure, by bringing in outside groups and not keeping things to the original intent of every county running everything separately. To your point, I think it's perfectly reasonable to believe that every ballot can be counted by election night, even in 2020. I mean, if you look at Arizona, just looking at Maricopa County, they had 2.1 million votes that were counted on by election night but then they took another three days three or four days to count what 200 or 300 000 more ballot like why did it, why were they able to do 2.1 million in one day and then it took three days to count another 100 000 doesn't make sense Tell what because when you when you look at it you have individuals involved in overseeing and I think there's been a big call for those who care about democracy to register to be an observer and to watch it. And then you've got the fight in the individual states, how they process it. I mean, tell us about that kind of call to action for those who care about their country to be involved, to make sure that they see irregularities. Yeah, well, for all your American viewers, get involved, right? Right. If you're if you're a legal American voter and registered to vote somewhere, get involved. You can go to protect the vote dot com. That's the RNC's election integrity program. There's a lot of great grassroots organizations around the country that you can get involved in. But this is an all hands on deck moment. This is the election. We either save our country or it's lost forever and it will never resemble what it was intended to be. And I truly believe Donald Trump will be back in the White House, but it's going to be a dogfight for sure. And so we need good, honest people who are willing to follow the law and want the law followed in their areas to volunteer, to work at your counties, get, you know, your counties are now in the process of hiring effectively seasonal workers for the purpose of the election. You can get paid to work your elections, work your election, and just make sure that the law is followed and that there's not, the midnight ballot drops with no chain of custody and nobody knows where they came from. But let's probably assume they're all legitimate and just count them anyway. You know, we need to make sure that that kind of negligence isn't taking place in the elections this time around. And what is it like? Because we've seen the ballot drops. For you to have drop boxes, that's just so strange for us over across the pond. It's strange for us too. Like, it's not a thing, right? But it hasn't always been like that, has it? No, it wasn't that way until 2020. It was like in 2020, the suspicious activity of COVID occurred and everyone was like, hey, let's completely change the laws outside of the legal process. The 2020 election was conducted illegally. No question about it. Whether you want to say the illegalities changed the outcome of the election or not, okay, we can debate that till hell freezes over. But the way the election was conducted was illegal. This massive influx of drop boxes was not authorized by the legislature of any of the states, yet they were dropped off everywhere. And we're like, hey, we're going to count anything that comes into these drop boxes. And I don't know if you've read some of the stories, but Americans didn't, like, this was not a way we vote. And a lot of people in the communities didn't necessarily know what they were. So people were putting mail, they thought they were mailboxes or Amazon return boxes. There was a lot of stuff that was deposited into these boxes that weren't ballots because nobody knew what they were. And so, no, the use of drop boxes was a bit novel to 2020. And I think they needed to do it in order to have this mass influx of mail ballots with no chain of custody. The entire chain of custody in all of these states that were questioned, that changed the outcome of the election, none of them had the chain of custody to know where any of these ballots came from or who cast them. So, yeah, it's kind of weird, huh? Very weird. That's not just me. I'm glad you get as well. But I've seen different legal cases with different states. Maybe you want to let us know, have there been wins have there been losses, have there been changes, because election integrity really is key for actually getting people out Yeah, we currently have open, I want to say 87, we being the RNC have 87 open cases litigation, pre-election litigation, most the vast majority if not all of them are for the purpose of ensuring that the the election is conducted securely in accordance with the law. And we've certainly had several victories. I would say we've had more victories than losses. There's some where I'd say it's kind of a draw and then there's some where you don't win them all. But in addition to the litigation that the RNC is conducting, several of the state legislatures have passed new laws. Voter ID laws have been strengthened in a lot of states. They put restrictions on the use of drop boxes. Several cases, and most notably in Wisconsin, which they're fighting to overturn it now. But the use of drop boxes in illegal was deemed, I'm sorry, the use of drop boxes in Wisconsin was deemed illegal. Now Democrats are working to overturn that because they flipped the Supreme Court in Wisconsin. So there's a lot of jockeying. There's good, there's neutral, there's some losses. But overall, I think we're in a better position than we were in 2020, if for no other reason, people are aware of the games, right? They're aware of what's going on. Americans want to remain in control of their elections. As you mentioned earlier in the show, if we don't, if we, the people don't control the outcome of our elections, we're never going to have a chance to control the border. We're never going to have a chance to control inflation. We're never going to have a chance to control the economy and gas prices. We're never going to have a chance to have a say in education. The way we speak is through our vote. And so we have to to protect that. And I think we're in a better place, but we need people involved. We absolutely need volunteers. We need workers to work at their counties. We need people involved. Back in, I grew up in Northern Ireland, which was very sectarian. We had our own issues in Northern Ireland, but one of the phrases used was vote early, vote often. And I don't know, if you obviously have where people can vote long before, for us postal ballots is quite unusual. You kind of get it if you need, but it's not the norm. Where in America, it seems to be more the norm. How does that work? And I think you need to actually use the systems in place and take advantage of it. And that's been, I think, a call on those on the right saying, actually, if this is the system, then we need to use it instead of complaining about it. Yeah, no, you're exactly right. I mean, I don't want to say that it's normal here. I think what happened is the left pushed mail-in voting in a few states that conservatives really weren't paying attention to. The Pacific Northwest is one area, California, New York, some of the really blue states, they pushed mail-in voting in those states. Colorado is another one. And conservatives just weren't paying attention. And then they pushed, then they started pushing it in conservative states and they really went for it in 2020. And now conservatives are going, wait, wait, wait, we don't like mail-in ballots. And so we got caught on our heels because we didn't fight the fight back in the 80s and 90s when they first started this push for mail-in ballots in some of these other states that we weren't paying attention to. And if you look at those states, like if you look at Oregon, for example. Oregon was a red state. Oregon was absolutely a conservative state up until, I want to say, 89. It was either 1989 or 1987. I don't remember which one. It's in my book, though. But prior to them making Oregon a mail-in ballot state, Oregon had voted for the Republican presidential candidate in every single election except for four presidents, all the way back until when Abraham Lincoln was in office. There were nine elections, Four of them were for FDR, and then the other three were for three other Democrat candidates, all the way back until Abraham Lincoln. The rest of the presidential candidates from Abraham Lincoln, minus those four, Oregon voted for the Republican candidate. When they instituted mail-in balloting in 1989 or 87, the Republican candidate has never won the state of Oregon. So I think mail-in ballots are a problem and probably not an accurate reflection of the way voters actually feel. So yeah, I think there needs to be some real serious reform on mail-in voting, but that can't come until after the election because it's the process that we have to use right now. So we have to win within this system. 100%. Maybe you want to give us a bit of an You've been there since March, so you're three months into it. What has that been like? Because it's a different RNC than it was whenever Trump has run before. Completely changed. It's now actually a MAGA RNC. America First. Right. No, it has MAGA-fied. Mega MAGA. Mega MAGA. Which is so funny. every time they create those terms to try to offend us, it's just like, okay, well, we'll own it. I'm mega mega, I'm ultra mega, I'm whatever. They want to make it sound extreme or crazy and none of it's working anymore because they are, they are outing themselves as the extremists. But no, the RNC really is in lockstep with the Trump campaign on the political operations and getting out the vote and volunteering and just ensuring that the RNC policies and procedures are aligned with the Trump campaign. I mean, the RNC is committed to getting Donald Trump reelected back to take the White House. And I think the voters know that. I think the conservative voters recognize that this is a different RNC. The RNC leadership today is not the RNC of leadership of 2020. And I think they've got a lot more confidence in our leadership now, as they should. Tell us what role the RNC, because again, looking at it from a UK perspective, they're kind of separate entities, the party, but the individual running and people vote for the individual much more than in the UK, where it's certainly very much for the party. I mean, how does the Trump campaign, sorry if it's a dumb question, but I'm a Brit. So how does the actual presidential campaign work connecting with the party? Because they are two separate entities, but they're working together for victory in November. Yeah, they are two separate entities. And, you know, this is my first presidential campaign. It's the first time I've I've worked at the RNC, so I can't speak prior from inside, but, I will, I'll say that Donald Trump's campaign is like any other, it's unlike any other, there's not another presidential campaign. I would say probably in, in the history of the country, at least, you know, in my lifetime, maybe Reagan, maybe, but I would be willing to bet that I think DonaldTrump is surpassing Reagan's popularity. So the RNC is in a position where we either support this mega MAGA candidate that we have in Donald Trump, who really is unlike any other candidate that our nation has seen and is, is really pushing conservative values, conservative Christian values through this corruption. He's kind of like breaking through the corruption that we otherwise wouldn't be able to break through. And the RNC really is there, is really there to ensure that he, as the, I mean, technically he'll be nominated in July, but we all know he's the presumptive nominee. As the nominee, he has what he needs to make his campaign successful. And so the goal is to ensure that the Trump campaign and Donald Trump as the candidate has, like, we kind of clear the way and have what they need to be successful in their efforts. And I was certainly, I said to you before, we went live, been at three Trump rallies the last year in Pennsylvania and South Carolina. And for someone who has been years in politics in the UK, I've never seen anything like that, that this is not just, here are my 10 bullet points. And I remember I heard Ron DeSantis speak a year ago, and it was a great speech. Yep, I agree with all those bullet points. Then you go and watch President Trump speak, and you think, wow, I mean, this is taking it to another level where you connect not just with a head, but actually connect with the heart. And that seems to be how his whole way of campaigning to connect with people at a deeper level than politics normally does. A hundred percent. And that's why they're trying to take him off the campaign trail. Because what you see in the media, and you know this, you've been to the Trump rallies and you've met him. You know how he is and what it's like being in that environment. It is really powerful. And people recognize it as different. It's not the same as every other candidate that we've ever seen. It's very different. You connect to him. You instantly feel like, oh, he's speaking to me. I understand what he's saying. And the left hates that. They want the cookie cutter candidate that they can control behind the scenes and somebody just gets to be the face of the party or whatever movement they want to pretend like they have. You can't do that with Donald Trump. And in the media, the liberal media is trying really hard to take away from that they're trying to say, he doesn't have the popularity or they're trying to minimize the amount of popularity that he has, but you cannot hide it. You can hide behind poll numbers. You can fudge polls with, who you contact and, the sample that you use. But you cannot lie about the massive seas of people who are coming to hear Donald Trump and coming out to support Donald Trump. And that's why it's so powerful, because Donald Trump has pictures. I mean, you can see that 100,000 people in New Jersey, and then you've got, I think, 40,000 people in the Bronx. You see these massive seas of people. That's not a fudged poll. Those people actually showed up, and Biden's not getting anything close to that. I mean, I went and spoke at an event in Detroit a week or two ago, and it was Trump surrogates. It was an event for several Trump surrogates that people, notable conservatives that support Donald Trump and speaking on MAGA values. President Trump wasn't there. And we had a huge crowd. There was a big crowd that there were probably five or 600 people there. I would, I would think maybe close to a thousand and Donald Trump wasn't even there. Joe Biden's not getting crowd sizes that big. And my point is people who support Donald Trump are getting bigger crowds than Joe Biden himself, then their candidates. And so they don't want people to know that. So please, check it out for yourself. If you have not been to a Trump rally, come to a Trump rally. They're unlike anything you've ever been to. I would agree. And for UK viewers, just go over to the States just to be in one. It is excitement. And I think you downplay Biden. I'm sure he could fill up his basement with people. I'm sure he could. Staffers. Yeah, maybe. But what it's been. Trump's ability to fundraise is another, and I've seen it, and please correct me if I'm wrong, but with some of the more establishment fundraisers who have connected with the Republican Party holding off, but it's then the public who have stepped in, and it seems to have, those establishment funders have kind of realized that actually this is the man. And if it's not him, it's four more years of decrepit Biden. So it certainly in funding, every time he goes through a court case, it just goes up and up. But it seems to be those traditional donors are also coming behind him. Is that a fair assessment? I think some of them are. I think some of them are not. You know, and that goes to show that this is not a Republican versus Democrat election in the United States. This is establishment versus the rest of America. And the rest of America is stepping up with their dollars. And the rest of America is funding Donald Trump to make sure that he gets across the finish line because the rest of America is sick of the establishment. We don't care if you're Republican or Democrat. If you've been part of the system that has oppressed Americans, made our cost of living go through the roof, made our wages go down, basically ruined one of, if not the best countries ever to exist in the history of the world, get out of the way. And they're getting basically mauled over by this massive sea of small dollar donors who are putting up a hundred bucks at a time, but it's causing the president to raise $400 million. I mean, that's a lot of people. And Joe Biden can go to these fancy celebrity dinners where you have celebrities that might donate a million dollars at a time. Fantastic, good for him. I hope they all spend all of their money. I think they should all donate all of their money to Joe Biden and waste it all because he's gonna lose. But he can get, you know, a few people to give him several million dollars. Okay. Donald Trump is raising $400 million off of a hundred bucks at a time. Who, who do the people support? Oh, completely. Is it the border and the economy? Are they still the key issues for the voters? Yeah, the voters are really concerned about the border. They don't like the fact that, you know, words coming out that illegal aliens are being bussed into all 50 states and they're all getting registered to vote, some against their will, at least some of the reports that I'd seen. They don't like, they, they don't like the toll that this invasion is taking on our cities and that we're paying for it. In New York, they're giving away, how many 500 bucks, a thousand dollars a month to these illegal aliens when Americans are struggling to survive. And now they have to fund this invasion. It's ridiculous. So they're real upset about the border. They're very upset about education. Parents are still being targeted who are trying to protect their kids. It's a very weird position. And I don't know to the extent that you guys are seeing, I think it's somewhat similar in the UK, but this push for transgender ideology, and allowing teachers to groom children into sexual behavior, parents don't like that. Shocking. But that's another issue. And then this whole idea that somehow the education system has more rights over your children than you do as a parent. And these states are becoming sanctuary states for kids to go get transgender surgery without parental consent. I mean, it's just bizarre what they're doing. So I mean, pick an issue, Democrats will lose on it. There is not a single issue on the debate stage today that Democrats it's like, oh, they've got a good point. None, because they're all completely woke. They're all so far from anything, not just immoral, but just a basic sense of responsibility as a human to be a good human and care about other people. They're off the rails on that. And so I can't wait for this debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, because not only is Joe Biden completely incapable of debating Donald Trump, they legitimately do not win on the issues. And so I'm sure they're going to try to pull something out to create some distraction. And I look forward to seeing what it is. But in a free and fair debate, Donald Trump is absolutely going to crush Joe Biden. He will. And I don't know if they can give Joe Biden enough of that, whatever liquid they give him to actually keep him going. But I think they could use it all up. He won't last an hour and a half. There's no way. And Trump's energy, I mean, for someone of his age, but actually an hour and a half. And in those speeches, he's enjoying himself. He's actually connecting back and forward with the audience. And it is fun and the audience are having fun and Trump is not there to go and deliver my top 10 points. He's there to engage with the audience and gee them up and have fun. And that kind of enthusiasm and honesty is really special. It's fun and people love it. And he's gone to the point, he's done so many of these rallies and he's given so many of these speeches that, you can tell when he goes off script a little bit, but he's even started, dropping some swear words in there every once in a while, just to emphasize a point. And people love it. They're just like, Oh, thank God someone who's not like so perfectly polished that we can't relate to him now, in 2020 or in 2016, everybody hated his mean tweets. And we're like, Oh, he's mean. I don't, whatever, people love it now. They're like, Oh, thank God God, he's real. He's genuine. He's authentic. And I do give him a lot of credit too. He has learned to kind of meet people where they are. And he's, I think softened his edges a little bit, become a little bit more, I don't want to say polished. He's always been exceptionally polished, but a little, a little bit more political. I feel like I'm offending him saying that, but he's, he's learned to, to play the game a little bit. He's elevated his political game, I should say. And now it's great, now it's just a great mixture of he's got that raw humor, but he's got he's politically refined now and it's just, he it's like he's hitting his sweet spot right at the perfect time. Really is and of course he's we kind of forget that he's not a politician, that that's not his background his background is in business to step into this and I think that was part of his undoing in in 2016 and 2020 where his maybe wasn't aware of how the system works, of the deep state working underneath and this election I think this is why he is so dangerous to the left because now he is aware of what is happening and that actually the RNC and others are putting people ready, so they're ready to step in place and so it's not just trusting actually it's been more purposeful and organized and planned than maybe it was before. For sure. For sure. I mean, this campaign is way, way above where it was in 2020. And quite honestly, even the president himself says it's better than the 2016 campaign. I mean, the enthusiasm, the support, the huge crowds, it's unlike any other campaign Donald Trump has run. He, I mean, I don't know what kind of records you can set, but he's setting them and he's setting all of them. And I think the left is helping him with these crazy indictments and convictions and trials and the abuses of government and the fact that the left is using the government to try to retain power and attack their political opponents. It's clear as day in the United States that that's what's happening. And Americans don't like it. They really don't like it. And Americans want to retain control of their government. And so the longer this goes on, the more people are switching sides. And I fully expect Donald Trump to be back in the White House in 2025. It certainly is a more sophisticated campaign, 100%. Can I, in the words of that wonderful press secretary, circle back to finish off on the issue on media? Because this, again, is different, even though it wasn't 2020. I don't think the alternative media was so well-developed. You kind of had Fox moving away and maybe OAN and Newsmax fit into that. But now you've got a plethora of alternatives, of Turning Point USA. InfoWars, you have WarRoom. You've got, I mean, it's masses of small, medium and large companies, individuals actually championing the causes that Trump is believing in to put America first. How does that, as someone who kind of has experienced the media and are now involved in the campaign itself, how do you see the media play out? And I mean, how much longer can the media on the left actually cheer Biden on? Well, they're running at a runway. I think they're hoping to hang on through the election, but I don't think they're going to make it. You're exactly right. I think the uprising of podcasts and radio stations and social media influencers. Conservatives are available to voters in a way that they weren't even in 2016 and probably not even in 2020. And it has really decentralized media, right? It used to be you had to watch Fox, CNN, or MSNBC, and that's where you got your information. That's where everybody got their information. Well, nobody believes those networks anymore. And so a lot of people have transitioned and are watching Newsmax, OAN, Real America's Voice. There's a number of other conservative news outlets that are available to people. But then you also have folks watching shows like your show where they want to tune in to a person that they like. And so it can kind of be personality centric. But however people want to get their news, people are able to receive the information in ways that they couldn't before. And I think I'll credit Elon Musk with taking over Twitter, which is now X, because I mean, we were all silenced, absolutely silenced on what used to be Twitter. Andour posts were suppressed. Our followers were haemorrhaged. You know, we, every, everybody probably remembers what it was like to be silenced on Twitter. And with the emergence of X, it, I do think it has changed the game for the better. You obviously, there's still things about it that I'd love to, to see a little bit different, but I give Elon Musk a lot of credit for kind of taking the gag off of the individual people who needed a platform and social media with the platform. And he basically freed it so that those people now have a voice too. Apologies to RAV not mention it was on with Tara Dahl and Kaelan Dorr last week, so sorry RAV definitely you're there, but there's also a a push by I mean OAN have faced that with getting removed off some of the networks obviously the system wants to to put Steve Bannon in jail for four months, the last four months the last four months of the number one political podcast America like, let's join the dots there. And of course, what's happening to Alex Jones and InfoWars is huge. And you've got others, but you've still got other networks with Blaze and Daily Wire. It's a whole plethora, but there is a cost, I guess, for speaking truth. You've seen that personally, but also these media outlets are seeing that. And yet those voices we've talked about, those channels, they don't care. They just want to fight. There's nothing you can do to Steve Bannon. He just, well, we need to fight harder. And that's the response we need, I think, in the media. Well, yeah, and I think it is. Back in 2020, there were a handful of us that were talking about the election, but there weren't many. And they tried very hard to silence us. And I'm so grateful that I've had the support that I've had at the time from OAN and now at the RNC and with the Trump campaign and that they have supported what I want to say and what I want to speak about it. We have to fight for our rights. I mean, our constitution, our bill of rights is only as good as if we use it. It's only good if we use it and we have to use it. And I think right now we're being put to the test of, do you believe that your constitutional rights are actually valid and stronger than anybody who's trying to manipulate them or destroy them? And I say, yes. I say, I think at the end of this, it's painful. I certainly will come out with a few bumps and bruises, but I do believe that the Constitution is stronger than those that are trying to manipulate it, lie about it, break it, destroy it, and solidify power among a select few. That is the antithesis of what the United States of America is. We are a decentralized nation in theory by design. Power is decentralized among the 50 states. And it's the voters that control power in the United States, American voters. And we have to restore that. We're getting there, but we have to restore that. You've got, what, five months more of this. You'll certainly want a break at the end, I'm sure. But you've got, and I've never, looking at politics across the world, you see campaigns kind of moving and then hitting roadblocks and reassessing or changing. With the Trump campaign, it just seems to kind of just keep doing what you're doing, keep ramping it up. You're hitting on all the points. And that's fairly rare as well, that there aren't the mistakes. Trump is a known quantity. He's got people around him he knows and trusts. But yeah, it's just, it seems to be just keep doing what you're doing. And that'skind of quite rare, I think, in elections to have, I guess, that confidence at the front where it's not opinion polling and talking to different groups. What should we talk about? Trump knows what to talk about. I think that's also refreshing, that honesty and, I guess, knowing where the vision is at the top. Yeah, and that really comes from him. I mean, I think he intuitively understands the everyday American, which is really fascinating how that happens. But he does. He gets it. He understands what they want as parents. He understands what they want as voters. He understands what they want as far as the borders concerned, as education is concerned, as the economy, every issue. He gets it. And it's a very and he jokes about this in his speeches. He would say it's common sense, but it turns out it's not that common anymore. Like, you know, it's just common sense of how the government needs to be run. And I think the difference is because he truly is in this for the American people and he truly is trying to make our way of life the best that it possibly can be. Whereas when you have other politicians that need to do opinion polling and figure out what people want to hear about, it's because they're not actually in it for the people. They're in it to try to win their own races. And so they're trying to figure out how do I win my race rather than how do I best serve the people? And Donald Trump is 100 percent aimed at serving the American people and making sure that the power of the American government is restored to the American people. And people are getting it. They get it. And you don't have to do big surveys. He just understands what they need because he's in it for their best interest. And it's unique because most politicians are in it for their own best interest and he's not clearly, clearly he's not in it for his own best interest It's true as I said I've heard him speeches, why am I doing this, life will be easier but I'm doing it because it's the right thing to do. You don't usually hear those words from politicians. Christina I really appreciate you coming on, I know you're exceptionally busy with the RNC campaign. I really appreciate you coming on and really encourage, the the links will be in the description for your book 'stealing your vote' and if the viewers, listeners want to delve into and remind themselves what happened in 2020 that is a perfect place to go so thank you so much for joining us Christina. Thank you so much for having me.

How do you report on a war when the war is at home?In this episode host Nicola Kelly speaks to Al Jazeera Gaza correspondent Youmna ElSayed. Youmna describes the challenges of reporting on the 7 October 2023 Hamas attacks and Israel's devastating bombardment of the beseiged Gaza Strip in the months that have followed. She sets out the personal and professional costs of covering the war, the impact it has had on her family and the moment the Israeli Defence Forces called her home to issue a threat.Presented by Nicola KellyProducer: Kevin Caners

National-level celebrations for HAWANA 2024 (National Journalists Day) were held in Kuching, Sarawak over the weekend. During the event, comments by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on the relevance of World Press Freedom Index rankings raised questions about the government's commitment to free, independent media. We discuss the divergence between government rhetoric and action concerning news media with Wathshlah Naidu of the Center for Independent Journalism (CIJ).Image Credit: Shutterstock.com

Pacific journalists reflect on the state of the media.

In this special episode to mark World Press Freedom Day, Jeffrey Gedmin, cofounder and editor-in-chief of American Purpose and former president of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, joins Robert McMahon and Carla Anne Robbins to discuss the global state of press freedom. They cover the challenges that a growing number of journalists face in exile or imprisonment, the U.S. role in upholding freedom of the press, and more.    Mentioned on the Podcast   “Exile Journalists Map—Fleeing to Europe and North America,” Reporters Without Borders   “Media Freedom,” Freedom House   2023 World Press Freedom Index, Reporters Without Borders   Journalists:    Parnaz Azima   Jamal Khashoggi   Alsu Kurmasheva   Monica Lovinescu   Georgi Markov   For an episode transcript and show notes, visit us at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/world-press-freedom-day-2024-mounting-threats-renewed-purpose 

The Gaza flotilla activists stranded in Turkey, why Scotland's Humza Yousaf quit while Spain's Pedro Sanchez stays and media activists call for the right to information. Also: EU election season is officially under, why EU enlargement states have veered to the far-right, the end for Slovakia's public broadcaster, Venice's pay-to-get-in rule and Denmark cashes in on Sweden's Eurovision limelight.

Facts & Spins for April 30, 2024 Top Stories: Israel is reportedly concerned over possible ICC arrest warrants, Scotland's First Minister Humza Yousaf resigns, Spain's PM Pedro Sanchez says he'll remain in office, The US reportedly doesn't believe Putin directly ordered Navalny's death, Columbia University's president faces criticism over her handling of Gaza protests, A CNN poll finds Trump is leading Biden 49-46%, A reports claims EU media freedom is nearing a “breaking point,” Germany's “Reichsbuerger” coup suspects go on trial, Tornadoes kill at least four in Oklahoma,  AstraZeneca admits the existence of a rare side effect from its COVID jab, and British Columbia rolls back its drug decriminalization program. Sources: https://www.verity.news/

As our planet grapples with the devastating effects of climate change, the indispensable role of environmental journalism becomes increasingly apparent. Yet, the right to cover environmental issues remains under siege, not least in Italy: In the last months of 2023, articles dedicated to the climate crisis in the main Italian newspapers decreased compared to the previous months.  At the same time, advertisements from polluting companies reached record levels, increasing the print media's dependency on them at a moment of historical low sales.  Meanwhile, in the evening TV news, “influenced by the Meloni government's impact on Rai” according to Greenpeace Italy, space for those opposing the ecological transition has doubled. How can journalists inform the public effectively when the fossil fuel industry has a growing influence on the media platforms? On Earth Day, we confront this question head-on. Guests: Barbara Trionfi, former Executive Director at IPI and current Fellow, is the author of the report Climate and Environmental journalism under fire.  Marta Frigerio is the Editor-in-Chief of RADAR Magazine, a media focusing on environmental issues that is a part of Greenpeace Italy's new initiative Free Press for Climate. Producer and Host: Beatrice Chioccioli, Europe Advocacy Officer at the International Press Institute (IPI) Editor: Javier Luque, Head of Digital Communications at IPI Other episodes in this series: Media Freedom in Focus: Untangling media capture in Greece Navigating Hungary's Sovereignty Protection Act – Media Freedom In Focus Related links: New IPI report reveals safety crisis faced by climate and environmental journalists Voices for Climate - The first network of voices against greenwashing Environmental journalism: pursuing quality coverage of a global crisis This podcast series is part of the Media Freedom in Focus project, sponsored by Media Freedom Rapid Response(MFRR), which tracks, monitors and responds to violations of press and media freedom in EU Member States and Candidate Countries. The MFRR is organized by a consortium led by the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) including ARTICLE 19 Europe, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), Free Press Unlimited (FPU), the International Press Institute (IPI) and Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso Transeuropa (OBCT).

What are the key media trends shaping public opinion? Join host Roger Ream and Brian C. Anderson, editor of City Journal and recipient of the 2023 Thomas L. Phillips Career Achievement Award, as they delve into the intricate dynamics of modern journalism and how it has impacted Brian's career. Brian provides expert analysis of the constantly changing landscape of news dissemination, ranging from the evolving strategies of traditional newspapers like The New York Times to the implications of social media censorship. He also shares valuable insight into the role of the media as he explores current issues like identity politics on college campuses, the rise of crime in cities, and the migrant crisis.Brian C. Anderson is the editor of City Journal and hosts their “10 Blocks” podcast. Previously, he was senior editor of City Journal and a research associate at the American Enterprise Institute. He is the author of "Against the Obamanet" (2015), "Democratic Capitalism and Its Discontents" (2007), "South Park Conservatives" (2005), and "Raymond Aron: The Recovery of the Political" (1998). He is co-author of "A Manifesto for Media Freedom" (2008) and editor of "The Beholden State: California's Lost Promise and How to Recapture It" (2013). Brian's work has appeared in publications including The Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Post, National Review, and many more. The Liberty + Leadership Podcast is hosted by TFAS president Roger Ream and produced by Podville Media. If you have a comment or question for the show, please email us at podcast@TFAS.org. To support TFAS and its mission, please visit TFAS.org/support.Support the show

Phoebe Fronista and Nick Malkoutzis return after a prolonged absence to discuss what's behind Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis's political dominance in Greece and whether things are more complex than they look.Their discussion was prompted by a piece Nick wrote recently for The Agora on MacroPolis's website after listening to Mitsotakis speak at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where the Greek PM shed light on the political strategy that has helped his centre-right New Democracy party comfortably see off its opponents.As Nick and Phoebe discuss, this success cannot be separated from the Greek context because serious problems with the opposition, media and institutions have provided Mitsotakis with considerable assistance.Useful readingRule of Law and Media Freedom in Greece - European ParliamentStemming the Tide of Greek Media Freedom Decline - MFRRCorruption Perceptions Index (Greece) - Transparency InternationalA Greek form of Triangulation - MacroPolis Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Wai Liang Tham (New Naratif's Researcher) and Avon Ang (Altermidya's National Coordinator) will talk about the 2nd and the 3rd publication of New Naratif's Media Freedom Insights series titled “Engendering Media Freedom”, the role of Altermidya, and what to expect from New Naratif's 4th MFI publication. You can also find this podcast on our ⁠⁠⁠⁠website⁠⁠⁠⁠. Our movement needs your support. A movement is only as strong as its members. If you believe in a more democratic Southeast Asia, join New Naratif as a member through our website.

It didn't take long for Winston Peters' news media grievances to make headlines - and headaches - for the new government. Mediawatch looks at how the media reacted to his claims of media 'bribery' - and what he was hinting at.   

In this episode, Adam and Alexandra catch up on the latest news from Poland, Hungary and Serbia. Later, they are joined by Paulina Milewska, a media expert, who currently works on an anti-SLAPP (strategic lawsuits against public participation) project for European Centre for Press and Media Freedom. They discuss the challenges faced by journalist and media in the region, including local media.Read the report mentioned in the interview: “From the regional press to Orlen Press.” A report by the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights: https://hfhr.pl/en/news/from-the-regional-press-to-orlen-pressCheck out the VoiCEE podcast: https://notesfrompoland.com/category/the-voicee-podcast/Support us, become a member of our community and gain access to exclusive content: www.patreon.com/talkeasterneuropeThis show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/4065065/advertisement

After the invasion of Warsaw pact troops to former Czechoslovakia in 1968, many Slovaks decided to leave their homeland. Sharing his experience of a migrant is Vladimir Rosenfeld who is currently living in Hawaii. Slovak radio as part of the Czechoslovak radio broadcasting experienced the halt to media freedom in 1968. Sharing the 4 pillars of public service in Sweden is the CEO of Swedish radio Cilla Benko who visited Slovakia in 2023. In the Culture news, get ready for an invitation to World Music Festival Bratislava.

Join America's Roundtable (https://americasrt.com/) radio co-hosts Natasha Srdoc and Joel Anand Samy with Michael J. Abramowitz, president of Freedom House, a non-partisan voice dedicated to supporting democracy. Mr. Abramowitz oversees a unique combination of analysis, advocacy, and direct support to frontline defenders of freedom, especially those working in closed authoritarian societies. He previously directed the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum's Levine Institute for Holocaust Education, prior to which he led the museum's genocide prevention efforts. He spent the first 24 years of his career at The Washington Post, where he was national editor and then White House correspondent. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and he was formally a Marshall Memorial fellow at the German Marshall Fund and media fellow at the Hoover Institution. A Conversation with Michael J. Abramowitz | Key Topics on America's Roundtable: — The Freedom House's Freedom in the World report, a widely read and cited report of its kind, tracking global trends in political rights and civil liberties for 50 years. — Media Freedom | A New Special Report — Reviving News Media in an Embattled Europe. — Significance of the rule of law in democratic states as it relates to defending civil liberties and political rights. — The state of freedom in India. — China's growing global influence under the leadership of President Xi Jinping. Further reading: By Michael J. Abramowitz and Yana Gorokhovskaia Dallas Morning News | Journalists face threats around the world (https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2023/04/15/the-world-is-less-democratic-when-journalists-are-less-safe/) About Freedom House | History (https://freedomhouse.org/about-us/our-history) Freedom House is the oldest American organization devoted to the support and defense of democracy around the world. It was formally established in New York in 1941 to promote American involvement in World War II and the fight against fascism. From the beginning, Freedom House was notable for its bipartisan support. Freedom House's founders were prominent and influential leaders from the fields of business and labor, journalism, academia, and government. A central figure among its early leaders was First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. Wendell Willkie, the Republican presidential nominee who ran against President Roosevelt in 1940, was also an ardent supporter and served as honorary co-chair along with Mrs. Roosevelt. Initially, the mission of Freedom House was to counter isolationism, a powerful force promoted by the America First Committee. At the time, ninety percent of American citizens were opposed to involvement in the European war, even as Nazi tanks rolled across the continent and concentration camps began to fill with people. The leaders of Freedom House argued that Hitler posed a grave threat to American security and values. Learn more: https://freedomhouse.org/about-us/our-history americasrt.com (https://americasrt.com/) https://ileaderssummit.org/ | https://jerusalemleaderssummit.com/ America's Roundtable on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/americas-roundtable/id1518878472 Twitter: @abramowitz @ileaderssummit @AmericasRT @NatashaSrdoc @JoelAnandUSA @supertalk America's Roundtable is co-hosted by Natasha Srdoc and Joel Anand Samy, co-founders of International Leaders Summit and the Jerusalem Leaders Summit. America's Roundtable (https://americasrt.com/) radio program - a strategic initiative of International Leaders Summit, focuses on America's economy, healthcare reform, rule of law, security and trade, and its strategic partnership with rule of law nations around the world. The radio program features high-ranking US administration officials, cabinet members, members of Congress, state government officials, distinguished diplomats, business and media leaders and influential thinkers from around the world. Tune into America's Roundtable Radio program from Washington, DC via live streaming on Saturday mornings via 65 radio stations at 7:30 A.M. (ET) on Lanser Broadcasting Corporation covering the Michigan and the Midwest market, and at 7:30 A.M. (CT) on SuperTalk Mississippi — SuperTalk.FM reaching listeners in every county within the State of Mississippi, and neighboring states in the South including Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Tennessee. Listen to America's Roundtable on digital platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon, Google and other key online platforms. Listen live, Saturdays at 7:30 A.M. (CT) on SuperTalk | https://www.supertalk.fm

When Shavkat Mirziyoev became Uzbekistan's president in late 2016, he promised that the "old ways" of governing the country were over, and that he would lift restrictions on the media. He even encouraged journalists to report on issues that needed correcting in society and in governance. The Uzbek Forum for Human Rights recently released a report, The President's Broken Promises Put Journalists and Bloggers At Risk, that looks at some of the cases of journalists and bloggers who ran afoul of the authorities for their reporting in the "new" Uzbekistan. Joining host Bruce Pannier are Umida Niyazova, director at the Germany-based Uzbek Forum for Human Rights, and Matthew Schaaf, the advocacy director at the Washington-based organization Freedom Now.

A former U.S. president has been indicted on charges of mishandling classified documents, including the willful retention of classified information and obstruction. The 49-page indictment of Mr. Donald Trump can be accessed via the following journals: NYTimes & WSJ. Did you know that the definition of classified information is largely dependent on presidential executive orders? And did you know that President Richard Nixon's executive order on classified information, is the model that many look to for clear examples of what type of disclosures may cause damage to our national security and, hence, should be protected as classified information? In this episode, Professor Heidi Kitrosser speaks to us about the willful retention of national defense information, and the legal implications of such conduct under the Espionage Act. She will also directly address Mr. Trump's retention of classified documents in Mar-a-Lago. In addition, she'll tell us about the history of classified information, e.g., what constitutes classified information? Who can designate information as classified? Who has access to them? And how all of this plays out in our system of separation of powers? With regards to this last point, Prof. Kitrosser points out something interesting - that U.S. courts and Congress may be intentionally skirting the responsibility of defining and categorizing classified information. She explains why this may be to their political benefit. Ms. Kitrosser is a professor at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law. She is an expert on the constitutional law of federal government secrecy, and on separation of powers and free speech law more broadly. She is the author of the following book: Reclaiming Accountability: Transparency, Executive Power, and the U.S. Constitution, which was awarded the 2014 Chicago-Kent College of Law / Roy C. Palmer Civil Liberties Prize. She is on the steering committee of a new initiative – the Free Expression Legal Network (FELN) spearheaded by Yale's Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic and the Reporter's Committee for Freedom of the Press. To learn more about Professor Kitrosser, you can visit her academic homepage, the link for which is provided in the detailed caption of this episode. I spoke with Prof. Kitrosser back in October, when the investigation into former President Trump's documents in Mar-a-Lago and its coverage in the news media started to really intensify. As you will note, that earlier conversation is highly relevant to our current news. You may also be interested in an earlier episode, in which, my guest, Prof. Michael Gerhardt, answers the following question: can Mr. Trump be disqualified from running for president? Prof. Gerhardt and I also talked about Andrew Jackson, Grover Cleveland and Richard Nixon, who were all struggled to reach or return to the White House in one way or another, and we compared them to Mr. Trump. Click here to listen: https://bit.ly/HbN-S2E41 I hope you enjoy these episodes. Adel Host of the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠History Behind News⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ podcast ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠SUPPORT⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Click here⁠ and join⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ our other supporters in the news peeler community. Thank you.