Governor Newsom Signs Senator Mike McGuire’s Legislation Protecting Journalists

Facebook Journalism Project

[Photo from the Facebook Journalism Project]

Press release from Senator Mike McGuire:

 Senator Mike McGuire’s legislation, which advances some of the toughest press freedom protections in the nation, has been signed into law by Governor Newsom today.

SB 98 has been one of the most critical bills focused on first amendment protections moving forward in any state legislature. The new law’s provisions will extend crucial protections to members of the press as they enter and report on events protected by the First Amendment.

Freedom of the press is foundational to our nation. It strengthens our democracy by providing transparency, keeping a check on government, and informing our everyday decisions. But this freedom is under assault here in the United States.

“There’s no doubt about it, California now has some of the toughest protections in place for journalists compared to any other state in America. We have seen a surge in egregious acts of violence and obstruction made against members of the press across the country and right here at home in the Golden State,” Senator Mike McGuire said. “This law will provide critical protections for the press as they attend and report on First Amendment events like protests, marches, rallies, and demonstrations. California is leading the way to ensure the freedom of the press and the First Amendment are protected and held to the highest standard. I’m grateful to Governor Newsom for his signature and to the hundreds of journalists and Guild Members who mobilized across the state along with the California News Publishers Association and the California Broadcasters Association, to ensure SB 98’s success.”

In 2020, over 600 reported acts of aggression against reporters took place. Rubber bullets, tear gas, and even detainment cannot become the new norm for an essential pillar of our nation’s democracy. California must lead the way to protect and uphold the right of the press and the First Amendment.

Currently, California law allows reporters and other members of the press to enter natural disaster emergency areas behind closed law enforcement lines – such as areas impacted by fires, floods, and earthquakes – in order to gather information to relay to the public. They can also go out during curfews at times of natural disasters. Until now, these critical protections, however, did not expressly extend to first amendment events such as protests and marches.

SB 98 prohibits law enforcement officers from obstructing, detaining, assaulting, or otherwise preventing the press from fulfilling their constitutional mandate in reporting on these events.

Additionally, the bill mandates that reporters can challenge their detainment or lack of access by working with law enforcement management on scene. This provides a necessary safety net to reporters who are not granted access or intentionally detained or mistakenly detained.

Recent police action demonstrates that these statutory protections are critical to ensure our democratic system has access to newsworthy information to inform the discussion on the crucial issues that California and the nation face.

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73 Comments
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Connie DobbsD
Member
2 years ago

Finally a brave public servant comes forward to define who is a ‘journalist.’

VMG
Guest
VMG
2 years ago
Reply to  Connie Dobbs

Weak work by a minor legislator…

Hey Mike, try fixing the EDD, or getting rural Californians to take their vaccine, try to get the hospitals funded, the roads repaired, and, try to get the CHP to enforce the speed limit…

Give the Bums somewhere to camp, give them some commodity food and a truckload of cheap beer every week, and then start a program to replant all the burned trees like they did in the 60’s…

Get the CCC going on the forests and make Caltrans leave Richardson Grove the heck alone!

Put a fat tax on buying a house and then putting it back on the market 5 minutes later, and tell the car dealers to stop claiming that there’s a “shortage of vehicles” so the price is double…

Stop “pandemic price gouging” for everything and give us a place to invest our money that pays more than 0.4% interest!

Mike, we don’t need to hear from you daily, and, you will never be Governor if you only keep fooling around with minor issues.

Here is a quarter, call your Mother and tell her your career is over next election…

Juanita
Guest
Juanita
2 years ago
Reply to  VMG

What a great comment ☺
Thanks

Lavaungh Robinson
Guest
Lavaungh Robinson
2 years ago
Reply to  VMG

Amen to that VMG !!

taxpayer
Guest
taxpayer
2 years ago
Reply to  Connie Dobbs

lets go brandon!

Wally
Guest
Wally
2 years ago
Reply to  taxpayer

JOE BIDEN chant going worldwide! Italians outside the US embassy in Rome take part 

https://twitter.com/LindaRe5994111/status/1447075037878521858?s=20

We have the best Italians, don’t we folks?
And one of their best came over here: Christopher Columbus.

Yeah,sure
Guest
Yeah,sure
2 years ago
Reply to  Wally

Sure, if you’re into mass murder and slavery…

Farce
Guest
Farce
2 years ago
Reply to  Wally

Christopher Columbi was actually a Jew. Secretly, because even then there was oppression of the Jews. A Jew pretending to be Italian and financed by the Spanish to kill the Arawak and steal their land. So yeah, let’s get ethnic and talk about genocide and blame every other culture but ya know what? EVERY race has done it. Genocide. EVERY ethnic group has assholes. It’s not US or THEM- it’s ALL OF US who allow the assholes to take over. Right now 3rd world people are being killed for your smartphone components. So maybe YOU are supporting the current genocide? THINK!!!

Mega me
Guest
Mega me
2 years ago
Reply to  Farce

Have you been reading Ralph Ellis ?

Yeah,sure
Guest
Yeah,sure
2 years ago
Reply to  Farce

His comment was epic trolling, meant to trigger and infuriate. Then Connies comment patted him on the back.
Get ready as you witness these threads turn into somewhere you don’t want to be…

Connie DobbsD
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  Wally

Now, Wally, you know Columbus triggers the fragile.

Connie DobbsD
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  Connie Dobbs

And by “fragile” I mean people who have no intention of recognizing Latinxes are decendants of genocidal colonizers who looted Indigenous sacred sites to slather that gold on their own altars, whereas Columbus was just lost.

Connie DobbsD
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  taxpayer

Just don’t go by plane : )

taxpayer
Guest
taxpayer
2 years ago
Reply to  Connie Dobbs

.

B1SqOvJ6PXS._CLa 2140,2000 91nEXQDqbWL.png 0,0,2140,2000+0.0,0.0,2140.0,2000.0_AC_SX679._SX._UX._SY._UY_.jpg
tax payerD
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  taxpayer

“hillary conceded, I never conceded”

tax payerD
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  taxpayer

‘forza brandon’
https://gettr.com/post/pdqkri96bc

Wally
Guest
Wally
2 years ago
Reply to  taxpayer

AKA FJB. 😉

e fox
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  Wally

Fox News reporter was drowned out during a live broadcast in Times Square, Manhattan, as people chanted “F*** Donald Trump.”
On Saturday evening, groups of people flooded to the streets of New York City to celebrate the announcement that Joe Biden had won the US election, after being projected to amass the 270 electoral college votes needed to beat Donald Trump.

e fox
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  taxpayer

Now be a good boy and write your name here. Notice Pence is so proud he can write his name all by himself

C4-jWW6UYAEybpS.jpeg
Last edited 2 years ago
taxpayer
Guest
taxpayer
2 years ago
Reply to  Connie Dobbs

,

Last edited 2 years ago
VMG
Guest
VMG
2 years ago
Reply to  taxpayer

Brandon who?

tax payerD
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  VMG

sounds like it is time to broaden your horizons

Ernie Branscomb
Guest
Ernie Branscomb
2 years ago
Reply to  VMG

Brandon is his last name. you need to read more and write less.

tax payerD
Member
2 years ago

haha

a6a73ec09ddc0cb6.png
tax payerD
Member
2 years ago

wrong. his last name is biden. how about that man in the mirror

e fox
Member
2 years ago

Yes read more. But stay away from nut job wacko ultra-right wing news sites.

Connie DobbsD
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  e fox

And football games, NASCAR races, baseball playoff games, concerts, the PA at O’Hare, and Italy.

Obliviously
Guest
Obliviously
2 years ago

This is from Wikipedia.

On October 2, 2021, Stavast was interviewing NASCAR Xfinity Series race winner Brandon Brown after the race. During that interview, as the crowd was unmistakably heard chanting “Fuck Joe Biden,” (to cover for Biden’s falling popularity), Stavast stated that the crowd was chanting “Let’s Go Brandon”.[4] Shortly after this interview, Internet memes were created using “Let’s Go Brandon” in place of the derogatory phrase towards President Joe Biden. Stavast has offered no comment on the error as of October 2021.”

Obliviously
Guest
Obliviously
2 years ago
Reply to  Obliviously
VMG
Guest
VMG
2 years ago

Brandon. Hmmm…

Something to do with Trumpists…

One thing this country doesn’t need is more idiots, and billionaires wanting to be Royalty…

I don’t really give a damn who is president, but Trump is the worst thing to happen since Nixon, Reagan and Hitler…

What “let’s go Brandon” means is probably even of less interest in the actual Red State part of California, like Yuba City, Redding and out into Alturas and beyond.

People from Humboldt often congregate, in Cedarville, during Deer Season, but the really big bucks, Donald and Brandon, I think their names are, hide out in town, because they know what will happen if they wander out into the countryside…

And here’s what will happen if Trump tries his crap again:

He will lose, again.

e fox
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  VMG

Supporters of former President Trump and Americans dissatisfied with Joe Biden have turned the chant “Let’s Go Brandon!” into a massive social media viral trend that has shown up at sporting events, airports, memes, all the way to the former president’s Saturday rally in Iowa. Makes em think they are clever. See Brandon Brown. What’s funny is all the towns named Brandon in the US and several unsavory characters named Brandon. I am sure they will ridiculed into dropping it. Brandon Elliot The man arrested in the assault on a 65-year-old Asian woman in New York City was out on parole for killing his mother, police told CNN.

Last edited 2 years ago
tax payerD
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  e fox

soooo, umm, bait and switch without adressing the question. nice way to explain things without explaining anything and adding a little ‘misinformation’ in there. btw no one chanted ‘lets go brandon’ at the airport. it was just a clever troll who got the lady to page ‘lets go brandon’. hilarious.

e fox
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  tax payer

https://www.indy100.com/viral/lets-go-brandon-biden-meme-b1935656. Did I say anything about chanting at the airport? The meme that was posted here is not a chant. How do you explain that? The phrase is being used in different mediums. Jesus wept, why do Ihave to keep explaining the obvious.

Last edited 2 years ago
Mega me
Guest
Mega me
2 years ago
Reply to  e fox

Dumbest explanation of the phrase I’ve ever heard . All you people do is lie.

Connie DobbsD
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  e fox

Yes, it is funny that Biden* is just as unsavory as a New York racist. That’s why, while other Presidents have been booed (in their second terms, mainly), none have had stadia of people coming together, repeatedly, in vastly different parts of the country, to shout, fuck him.

Last edited 2 years ago
e fox
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  Connie Dobbs

Fox News correspondent Greg Palkot was nearly drowned out by a crowd chanting “fuck Trump” during a segment in which he was reporting that the U.S. Women’s soccer team had just won the World Cup held in France. Trump sentiment was world wide. https://www.newsweek.com/crowd-chants-fuck-trump-fox-news-reporter-soccer-world-cup-1447934

Last edited 2 years ago
e fox
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  e fox

81,284,000 Americans voted a “fuck Trump” during the last presidential election

e fox
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  e fox

The ultrawealthy Saudi royal family gave President Donald Trump and his team luxurious cheetah and tiger robes that federal inspectors later determined to be fake, The New York Times reported on Monday.

Connie DobbsD
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  e fox

But your feels aren’t hurt, that’s for sure.

Last edited 2 years ago
Connie DobbsD
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  e fox

I bet they all voted for Biden, too.

Connie DobbsD
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  VMG

All of the Brandons. They have gone unrecognized long enough.

bearjoo
Guest
bearjoo
2 years ago

Good thing HIS 12 year old daughter is exempt from the Jim Jones Juice… but your kid is getting the Z juice… bitchute.com/video/cBxHnQRryr2P/

Mega me
Guest
Mega me
2 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

Newsom said “Our schools already require vaccines for measles, mumps, and more,” Newsom, a Democrat, said of the mandate. “Why? Because vaccines work.”

Are all of those vaccines only effective for 8 months?

tax payerD
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  Mega me

this is a recorded call
redvoicemedia.com/2021/10/biden-busted-as-pfizer-admits-theres-no-vaccine-approved-by-fda-in-the-u-s-in-recorded-call/

Joshua WoodsD
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  Mega me

Most ineffective vaccine ever. The measles vaccine was created quickly and it still took 4 years but we are supposed to trust something developed and tested in under 1 year? At least when people get the mmr vaccine they don’t contract or spread the disease the vaccine is supposed to stop.

Juanita
Guest
Juanita
2 years ago
Reply to  Joshua Woods

Since it has actually been in development for more than a decade, yes

e fox
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  Joshua Woods

The measles vaccine was first approved in 1963. Are you saying science or medicine has not advanced since 1963. Did the Catholic Church step in again to stop the advancement of science and medicine as they have thru the centuries.

bearjoo
Guest
bearjoo
2 years ago
Reply to  Mega me

after 6 months its down 88%… aka its a lemon, a clunker, a jalopy… unless you plan on dying of covid in the next 6 months.

bearjoo
Guest
bearjoo
2 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

I have published articles on yahoo, business insider, and many others… I respect your work Kym. But being skeptical of injectionista political partisans with ties to surveillance medicine is just good journalism. 🙂 Respect.

Ernie Branscomb
Guest
Ernie Branscomb
2 years ago

How do we define a journalist?

First we form a State agency to test, confirm, and license a journalist. They will be issued an official license similar to a driver’s license. There will be fines related to falsely identifying yourself as a journalist.

Of course the agency will need a director and a staff. There will be fees involved for your news service to make sure that your news service qualifies as an official news provider.

This is a great idea. There will be no more fly-by-night information providers starting false rumors. There will be fines or jail time for providing false information.

It reminds me of the old warning about never letting your camel slip it’s nose under the tent.

So… Will the real journalist please step forward and get this thing started?

Ullr Rover
Guest
Ullr Rover
2 years ago

Yup. Now the state gets to define “journalist” and “press” and those who get the privelage of that 1st Amendment right.

They forget that the Constitution is a shackle on the government not a permission slip.

The Real Brian
Guest
The Real Brian
2 years ago
Reply to  Ullr Rover

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_journalists_killed_in_the_United_States

Did anyone even give a shit about finding out more, or are we just going to be surprised and amazed when Kym is attacked for publishing Public Health information?

Get a grip kids.

e fox
Member
2 years ago

Some law enforcement officers will continue to interfere, bully, detain, commit acts of violence and generally be obnoxious to journalists untill they are actually held accountable for their actions. These individuals have all ready violated a number of journalists civil and First Amendment rights with no repercussions, at all. Usually because of some lame excuse issued by a police chief or law enforcement unions. They are allowed to “investigate” themselves and hide behind qualified immunity.

Last edited 2 years ago
hmm
Guest
hmm
2 years ago
Reply to  e fox

A lot of the violent interference to free speech that we’ve seen has been from what are called “far left” activist. Of course it doesn’t make much since to call people far left when they reject freedom of speech.

Connie DobbsD
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  hmm

None of those were journalists. They were snitches with cameras, like James O’Keefe.

Connie DobbsD
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  e fox

So you’re for protecting Andy Ngo from being beaten by Antifa again? About time you stood up for a minority.

Jacob
Guest
Jacob
2 years ago

Shouldn’t have to make a law to make people follow the constitution.
Laws are only for those who follow them.
All this is over the BLM movement in Oregon when “protesters/rioters” were coming and going from their warzone/riotzone claiming they were journalists.
Hey Mr Huffman, if your reading this….
If your gonna protect one amendment, then you should protect them all. Especially the second amendment. We dont have the first amendment without the second amendment.
I feel like this was a waste of tax payer $ and time. I could create a long list as well. How about starting with the trash and recycling problems in Humboldt!

hmm
Guest
hmm
2 years ago
Reply to  Jacob

I think pretty much everyone agrees with the second amendment and that it should be protected. It’s just the most of us agree with the interpretation of the minority court, probably because we’re able to read English.

namer
Guest
namer
2 years ago
Reply to  hmm

onwy daddy-waddy get gunsy-wunsy

Connie DobbsD
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  hmm

Only native English literates are allowed to participate in your society.

Joshua WoodsD
Member
2 years ago

Anyone catch the other radical laws Newsom signed into law? Requiring businesses to have a gender neutral section, banning gas powered lawn equipment, generators, chainsaws, leaf blowers, pressure washers… Hope you’re happy not recalling this insane nutcase.

Connie DobbsD
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  Joshua Woods

It will totally speed up freeway construction when the carpenters can’t use gas generators to power their saws and drills.

Nooo
Guest
Nooo
2 years ago

Another inept feel-good law on the books. Natural disasters have never been known to derive benefit from journalist’s presence. They rarely care about publicity or gaining national attention. They rarely have a message to deliver. They never act out nor take hostages nor even exist solely for the previously mentioned purposes. However rioters, protesters or rallied do, would and have exaggerated their actions, even created violence and damage, to get media attention. The police can easily be put in the position supplying sympathy for such behavior by press coverage that normally is long on ugly pictures of people being dragged off to jail and short on why they were being dragged off in the first place. Now the California legislature has guaranteed this access but did nothing to ensure that manipulation and even danger to public officials was minimized.

Connie DobbsD
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  Wally

Why does he hate landscapers?

The Real Brian
Guest
The Real Brian
2 years ago
Reply to  Wally

This law will never go into full effect, and will change drastically before implementing it the future.

The endeavors of it are sooo far away that it will likely make great headlines for all haters and lovers, but never actually be realised.

Connie DobbsD
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  The Real Brian

“It’s just for two weeks, to slow the spread.”

The Real Brian
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  Connie Dobbs
namer
Guest
namer
2 years ago

Gav knows his auntie hates Snowden and Assange.

HSU grad
Guest
HSU grad
2 years ago

the press does not have a “constitutional mandate” what a bunch of bollocks

Farce
Guest
Farce
2 years ago

I’ll feel much safer when Huffboy and Greasy Gavin pass a law against earthquakes…