Just days after news broke that the Justice Department had secretly obtained AP journalists’ phone records as part of its ongoing crackdown on leaks, the New Yorker released a new tool — Strongbox— to enable people to safely and securely leak electronic files. The late Aaron Swartz largely built the system (for a good discussion of its strengths and weaknesses, see here, here and here).
Meanwhile, Wired has “Hear Ye, Future Deep Throats: This Is How to Leak to the Press” — a post offering a terrific set of recommendations for leaking via email, phone or postal mail.
And in Slate, Dan Gillmor has “How Journalists Can Protect Themselves from the U.S. Government,” which also has a range of useful tips and links.
If the title of Gillmor’s post doesn’t give you pause regarding the state of press freedom in America, this paragraph should stop you in your tracks:
It’s time now for U.S. media companies and individual bloggers alike to recognize that they live in an environment in which their own government — not to mention criminal or corporate hackers — may well be using all of the tools at its considerable disposal, legal or not, to spy on them. They will increasingly need to practice their craft here at home as if they were independent journalists or dissidents living under an authoritarian regime.
Members of the professional press are not the only ones who should be changing their approach. Given how many people are taking up the tools of media making and journalism, we all need to learn how to report and create media safely.
Two years ago, after police around the U.S. arrested more than 100 journalists, primarily at Occupy protests, the country plummeted to 47 in global press freedom rankings. This year we improved only marginally.
This is the world we live in.
I’m glad to see journalist security getting the attention it is, but we shouldn’t just accept and adapt to this new world of surveillance and eroding rights. We need the press to fight back on these encroachments, but we can’t leave it up to journalists alone. We all have a stake in this issue — as media makers, news consumers and members of the public — and we need to begin building a broad-based movement for media rights.
Help us Prepare for Trump’s Day One
Trump is busy getting ready for Day One of his presidency – but so is Truthout.
Trump has made it no secret that he is planning a demolition-style attack on both specific communities and democracy as a whole, beginning on his first day in office. With over 25 executive orders and directives queued up for January 20, he’s promised to “launch the largest deportation program in American history,” roll back anti-discrimination protections for transgender students, and implement a “drill, drill, drill” approach to ramp up oil and gas extraction.
Organizations like Truthout are also being threatened by legislation like HR 9495, the “nonprofit killer bill” that would allow the Treasury Secretary to declare any nonprofit a “terrorist-supporting organization” and strip its tax-exempt status without due process. Progressive media like Truthout that has courageously focused on reporting on Israel’s genocide in Gaza are in the bill’s crosshairs.
As journalists, we have a responsibility to look at hard realities and communicate them to you. We hope that you, like us, can use this information to prepare for what’s to come.
And if you feel uncertain about what to do in the face of a second Trump administration, we invite you to be an indispensable part of Truthout’s preparations.
In addition to covering the widespread onslaught of draconian policy, we’re shoring up our resources for what might come next for progressive media: bad-faith lawsuits from far-right ghouls, legislation that seeks to strip us of our ability to receive tax-deductible donations, and further throttling of our reach on social media platforms owned by Trump’s sycophants.
We’re preparing right now for Trump’s Day One: building a brave coalition of movement media; reaching out to the activists, academics, and thinkers we trust to shine a light on the inner workings of authoritarianism; and planning to use journalism as a tool to equip movements to protect the people, lands, and principles most vulnerable to Trump’s destruction.
We urgently need your help to prepare. As you know, our December fundraiser is our most important of the year and will determine the scale of work we’ll be able to do in 2025. We’ve set two goals: to raise $76,000 in one-time donations and to add 1156 new monthly donors by midnight on December 31. And right now, your gift will be matched dollar for dollar.
We’re asking all of our readers to start a monthly donation or make a one-time donation – as a commitment to stand with us on day one of Trump’s presidency, and every day after that, as we produce journalism that combats authoritarianism, censorship, injustice, and misinformation. You’re an essential part of our future – please join the movement by making a tax-deductible donation today.
If you have the means to make a substantial gift, please dig deep during this critical time!
With gratitude and resolve,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy