Bob Bauer | Can Freedom of the Press Survive David Pecker?

12 February 19 AM It's Live on the HomePage Now: Reader Supported News IF YOU ARE GOING TO STAY, YOU HAVE TO HELP - The budget is too thin to do this. We have many, many more readers than donors and it is breaking the process down. We understand that we will lose some readers. Although we haven’t lost many yet, if we do, we do. If you stay, we need your help and we need it now. / Marc Ash, Founder Reader Supported News Sure, I'll make a donation! Bob Bauer | Can Freedom of the Press Survive David Pecker?  Bob Bauer, The Atlantic Bauer writes: "By passing over from the pursuit of news to corporate bullying for self-interested purposes - or, in the campaign-finance case, coordinated political activity with a candidate - a media organization risks forfeiting the constitutional protections normally working in its favor." READ MORE A protester in front of the U.S. Capitol Building during the federal government shutdown that lasted from December 22, 2018 until January 25, 2019. (photo: Larry Downing) Lawmakers Say They Have Reached an 'Agreement in Principle' to Avoid Government Shutdown Erica Werner, Damian Paletta and Sean Sullivan, The Washington Post Excerpt: "Key lawmakers announced a tentative deal late Monday that would avert another government shutdown at the end of the week while denying President Trump much of the money he's sought to build new walls along the U.S.-Mexico border." READ MORE People cast their ballots ahead of the Tuesday, November 6, general election at Jim Miller Park, Saturday, Oct. 27, 2018, in Marietta, Georgia. (photo: Mike Stewart/AP) Thousands of Black Votes in Georgia Disappeared and No One Can Explain It Michael Harriot, The Root Harriot writes: "The nonprofit group, Coalition for Good Governance, discovered that approximately 127,000 Georgia voters simply did not have a recorded vote for lieutenant governor." READ MORE Protesters rallying against Donald Trump's travel ban policy. (photo: NBC News) A New Muslim Ban Challenge Seeks to Answer the Questions the Supreme Court Didn't Settle Sirine Shebaya, Slate Shebaya writes: "Although the Trump v. Hawaii decision was a setback, the Supreme Court did not settle the question of whether the ban violates the Establishment Clause in that decision. Instead, it sent it back to the lower courts, where we and our plaintiffs are renewing our legal challenge." READ MORE People protest against a proposed bill that would remove parents' ability to claim a philosophical exemption to opt their children out of the MMR vaccine in Olympia, Washington, on 8 February. (photo: Ted S. Warren/AP) Health Experts Pressure Facebook to Halt Rise of Anti-Vaccination Groups Ed Pilkington and Jessica Glenza, Guardian UK Excerpt: "The threat posed by the Facebook groups was put in stark relief by the World Health Organization (WHO), which lists 'vaccine hesitancy' - reluctance to vaccinate - as one of the top 10 global health threats in 2019." READ MORE Demonstrators and police in Spain. (photo: Emilio Morenatti/AP) Trial of Catalan Separatists Begins in Madrid Amid Protests Aritz Parra and Joseph Wilson, Associated Press Excerpt: "The trial, arguably Spain's most important in four decades of democracy, began as the future of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's minority government hinges on last-minute negotiations with Catalan pro-independence parties to back his 2019 budget." READ MORE Jason shows the iron waste that has accumulated around his water filtration system. (photo: BBC) A Toxic Crisis in America's Coal Country Gareth Evans, BBC Excerpt: "In the shadow of some of America's most controversial coal mines, where companies use huge amounts of explosives to blow the tops off mountains, isolated communities say their water has been poisoned." READ MORE Contribute to RSN Update My Monthly Donation