Press Uncuffed

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Press Uncuffed, founded in 2015 by the Washington Post 's Dana Priest and several of her students at the University of Maryland [1] in collaboration with the Committee to Protect Journalists, [2] [3] is a campaign to help free imprisoned journalists throughout the world. The nonprofit organization centers fundraising around selling bracelets bearing the names of imprisoned journalists. [4] Eight of the journalists profiled were released, including the Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian. [5] Priest and the students used Indiegogo to fund the original bracelets. [6] They surpassed their flexible goal of $30,000 by almost $1,500 within the time limit of the campaign. The organization's mission statement is: "Our mission is to advocate for and support imprisoned journalists overseas. If a journalist somewhere still wears a cuff, so will we." The campaign was launched at the Newseum in 2015. [7]

Contents

Dana Priest

A two-time Pulitzer Prize winning Washington Post investigative reporter, Dana Priest covers national security and press freedom worldwide. [8] At the university, Priest teaches two courses: National Security and Press Freedom Reporting, and The Impact of 9/11 on Journalism and Civic Life. [9] The former is the course with which she began Press Uncuffed. At the beginning of the semester, each student was assigned to an imprisoned journalist somewhere in the world. Throughout the semester, the student investigated, researched and reported on the journalist. [10] Many students were able to call, video chat, and send messages to their journalists. By the end of the semester, students completed a long-form article to be published in either Capital News Service or the Washington Post, where Priest works. One story published in the Post covered Zainab Khawaja in Bahrain. [11] A story about Pakistan's famous television show host Hamid Mir was also published in the Post. [12]

Bracelets

Clear bracelets depicting the names of imprisoned journalists along with the countries in which they are imprisoned are the main source of funding for Press Uncuffed. The organization sells them through their website and through Investigative Reporters and Editors, [13] a non-profit organization that works to improve investigative journalism worldwide.

Social Media and Coverage

The organization is active on multiple social media platforms, including Facebook, [14] Twitter, [15] Instagram [16] and Tumblr. [17] The organization put together a video the first year detailing their work and goals. [18]

At the University of Maryland, the organization has received extensive coverage. The Writers' Bloc, a student publication, covered the organization's mission. The university's student newspaper, The Diamondback , covered the nonprofit's win of the Do Good Challenge. [19] Other universities have also covered the nonprofit's work, including the University of Arizona, where Priest won an award for her press freedom efforts in 2016. [20] Priest has expressed an interest in working with the university to further their press freedom goals. [21]

Awards

The campaign is the winner of multiple awards, including the SABRE Award for nonprofit organizations [22] and the Do Good Challenge, which they won alongside Student's Helping Honduras. [23]

Related Research Articles

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Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic media, especially published materials, should be considered a right to be exercised freely. Such freedom implies the absence of interference from an overreaching state; its preservation may be sought through the constitution or other legal protection and security. It is in opposition to paid press, where communities, police organizations, and governments are paid for their copyrights.

Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years researching and preparing a report. Practitioners sometimes use the terms "watchdog reporting" or "accountability reporting".

The Capital News Service (CNS) is a news wire affiliated with the University of Maryland, College Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Lewis (journalist)</span>

Charles Lewis is an investigative journalist based in Washington D.C. He founded The Center for Public Integrity and several other nonprofit organizations and is currently the executive editor of the Investigative Reporting Workshop at the American University School of Communication in D.C.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dana Priest</span> American journalist, writer and teacher

Dana Louise Priest is an American journalist, writer and teacher. She has worked for nearly 30 years for the Washington Post and became the third John S. and James L. Knight Chair in Public Affairs Journalism at the University of Maryland's Philip Merrill College of Journalism in 2014. Before becoming a full-time investigative reporter at the Post, Priest specialized in intelligence reporting and wrote many articles on the U.S. "War on terror" and was the newspaper's Pentagon correspondent. In 2006 she won the Pulitzer Prize for Beat Reporting citing "her persistent, painstaking reports on secret "black site" prisons and other controversial features of the government's counter-terrorism campaign." The Washington Post won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, citing the work of reporters Priest and Anne Hull and photographer Michel du Cille "exposing mistreatment of wounded veterans at Walter Reed Hospital, evoking a national outcry and producing reforms by federal officials."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick Penniman</span> American nonprofit executive and journalist

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Freedom of the press in the United States is legally protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

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The Journalism Center on Children & Families is a nonprofit program of the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, College Park. The center inspires and recognizes exemplary reporting on children and families. Since 1993, over 14,000 journalists have attended its intensive training programs and relied on it for balanced information and resources.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ann Devroy</span> American political journalist

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The Investigative Reporting Workshop is a nonprofit, editorially independent newsroom based at American University in Washington, D.C. in that trains undergraduate, graduate student and early career journalists by pairing them with professional newsrooms on investigative, enterprise and data journalism projects. Since its founding, the IRW has partnered with dozens of professional newsrooms on hundreds of investigations, and trained more than 240 student journalists -- many of whom now work in leading newsrooms across the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amanda Bennett</span> American journalist (born 1952)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jason Rezaian</span> Iranian-American journalist

Jason Rezaian is an Iranian-American journalist who served as Tehran bureau chief for The Washington Post. He was convicted of espionage in a closed-door trial in Iran in 2015.

Deborah Nelson is a Pulitzer prize-winning freelance journalist at Reuters and the Associate Professor of Investigative Reporting at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mahmoud Abu Zeid</span> Egyptian photojournalist

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Mississippi Today is a nonprofit news organization based in Ridgeland, Mississippi. It was founded in 2016 by former NBC chairman Andrew Lack. It is focused on watchdog journalism related to Mississippi's state and local government, economy, environment, public schools and universities, and criminal justice system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wa Lone</span> Burmese journalist

Wa Lone is a Reuters journalist and children's author who, with fellow reporter Kyaw Soe Oo, was arrested on 12 December 2017 in Myanmar because of their investigation into the Inn Din massacre. A police witness testified that their arrest was a case of entrapment. It is believed to have been intended to intimidate journalists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kyaw Soe Oo</span> Myanmar journalist

Kyaw Soe Oo is a Myanmar Reuters journalist who, with fellow reporter Wa Lone, was arrested on 12 December 2017 in Myanmar because of their investigation into the Inn Din massacre. A police witness testified that their arrests were a case of entrapment. It is believed their arrests were intended to intimidate journalists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maurine Beasley</span>

Maurine Beasley is professor emerita of Journalism at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism, University of Maryland, College Park. She is known for her studies on the history of women in journalism, especially during early periods when they were poorly represented in the field, and for her research concerning the life and work of Eleanor Roosevelt.

References

  1. ↑ "Dana Priest - Philip Merrill College of Journalism". Philip Merrill College of Journalism. Retrieved 2016-12-15.
  2. ↑ "#FreeThePress - PressUncuffed - Committee to Protect Journalists". www.cpj.org. Retrieved 2016-12-15.
  3. ↑ "Press Uncuffed Campaign Celebrates Release of Washington Post Reporter Jason Rezaian - Philip Merrill College of Journalism". Philip Merrill College of Journalism. 2016-02-19. Retrieved 2016-12-15.
  4. ↑ Lasky, Carolyn (March 25, 2015). "Press Uncuffed Launches Crowdfunding Campaign to Raise Money to Free Imprisoned Journalists". marketwired.com. Market Wired. Retrieved December 16, 2016.
  5. ↑ BaRoss, Kelsey (February 19, 2016). "Press Uncuffed Campaign Celebrates Release of The Washington Post's Jason Rezaian From Iranian Prison". marketwired.com/. Market Wired. Retrieved December 16, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Press Uncuffed". Indiegogo. Retrieved 2016-12-16.
  7. ↑ "Press Uncuffed: Free the Press Campaign - Committee to Protect Journalists". cpj.org. 26 March 2015. Retrieved 2016-12-16.
  8. ↑ "Dana Priest". Washington Post. Retrieved 2016-12-15.
  9. ↑ "Schedule of Classes". ntst.umd.edu. Retrieved 2016-12-15.
  10. ↑ Bloc, The (2015-04-02). "Press Uncuffed: Taking Names, Freeing Journalists and Making Bracelets". The Writer's Bloc. Retrieved 2016-12-16.
  11. ↑ "After Arab Spring, journalism briefly flowered and then withered". Washington Post. Retrieved 2016-12-16.
  12. ↑ "Why the most famous TV journalist in Pakistan is in constant fear for his life". Washington Post. Retrieved 2016-12-16.
  13. ↑ "Items Tagged Press Uncuffed". store.ire.org. Investigative Reporters and Editors. Retrieved December 16, 2016.
  14. ↑ "Security Check Required". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2016-12-16.
  15. ↑ "Press Uncuffed (@PressUncuffed) | Twitter". twitter.com. Retrieved 2016-12-16.
  16. ↑ "@pressuncuffed • Instagram photos and videos". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 2016-12-16.
  17. ↑ Uncuffed, Press. "Press Uncuffed". Press Uncuffed. Retrieved 2016-12-16.
  18. ↑ Press Uncuffed (2015-03-23), Press Uncuffed - Campaign Video , retrieved 2016-12-16
  19. ↑ "Miles for Smiles, Press Uncuffed place first in Do Good Challenge". The Diamondback. Retrieved 2016-12-16.
  20. ↑ "Dana Priest captures 2016 Zenger Award for Press Freedom | School of Journalism". journalism.arizona.edu. Retrieved 2016-12-16.
  21. ↑ "Zenger winner Priest hopes to partner with UA Journalism | School of Journalism". journalism.arizona.edu. Retrieved 2016-12-16.
  22. ↑ "Press Uncuffed Campaign Wins Prestigious SABRE Award for Non Profit Organizations - Philip Merrill College of Journalism". Philip Merrill College of Journalism. 2016-05-04. Retrieved 2016-12-16.
  23. ↑ dorodi (2015-04-29). "Miles for Smiles, Press Uncuffed place first in Do Good Challenge". www.philanthropy.publicpolicy.umd.edu. Retrieved 2016-12-16.
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