Free Press Wants Reporters Without Border Hassles

Free Press delivered a petition to the Department of Justice asking it to end harassment of journalists, in particular at US borders.

It pointed to the six-hour detention of WNYC On the Media producer Sarah Abdurrahman, a Muslim. It also pointed to the detainment of documentary filmmaker Laura Poltras. Free Press said that the petition bore more than 75,000 signatures on a request that the government insure journalists' and others' "freedom to travel without fear of unwarranted interference." "The United States faces a mounting press freedom crisis," said Josh Stearns, Free Press journalism and public media campaign director. "Journalists must be able to report freely wherever the story takes them. It's unconscionable that American journalists are afraid to return home for fear of their own safety and the security of their work."