In many parts of the world, authorities are interfering in journalism, for example by bribes or criminal prosecution of journalists. Many people are realizing that our world is not as free as we have thought, not even in what we usually call democratic countries, and that the concept of “free press” is at risk almost everywhere. One of the latest examples is that a North Dakota state prosecutor has sought to charge Amy Goodman from Democracy Now with participating in a “riot” for filming an attack on anti-pipeline protesters. As Jason Reynolds writes:

So, what is the real purpose of the criminal charges and the arrest warrant? That’s what you should be concerned about: a government that will stifle and silence a reporter for airing a story that they don’t agree with.

This is taking place in a country where the people thought that the First Amendment of their Constitution would guarantee freedom of speech and free press. And it is not the first time US authorities have participated in silencing a journalist. We remember Gary Webb (see, for example, Managing a Nightmare: How the CIA Watched Over The Destruction of Gary Webb and Gary Webb Was Right).