SPJ: Phoenix, Arizona Chapter

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UPDATE, Jan. 16: SPJ, joined by a coalition of press freedom groups and SPJ chapters across the country, has sent a joint letter to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel condemning the FBI’s execution of a search warrant at the home of Hannah Natanson, a reporter for The Washington Post and demanding a halt to any investigation of her lawful reporting.

“Searching a journalist’s home and electronic devices, especially one who is not the subject of a criminal investigation, raises grave concerns under federal law and represents a dangerous escalation in the federal government’s recent treatment of journalists,” the letter states. “We call on you to explain the legal basis for this action, cease any investigation into Natanson’s lawful newsgathering and return any seized material.”

The letter follows a statement SPJ issued the day of the Jan. 14 raid denouncing it as a grave threat to press freedom.  

Original post from Jan. 14:

The FBI’s execution of a search warrant at the home of Hannah Natanson, a reporter for The Washington Post, is an extraordinary and dangerous escalation in the federal government’s recent treatment of journalists, the Society of Professional Journalists said in a Jan. 14 statement. 

“Federal agents searched Natanson’s home and seized both personal and work-issued devices even though she was told she is not the target of the investigation” the statement said. “This kind of aggressive law enforcement action against a journalist — particularly one engaged in reporting on the federal workforce — has a chilling effect not only on reporters, but on the sources who rely on them to expose wrongdoing and inform the public.”

SPJ cited The Privacy Protection Act of 1980, which sharply limits law enforcement searches of journalists’ homes or seizures of their work product, permitting them only under narrowly defined and extraordinary circumstances.

“The law exists to protect the public’s right to know — not to shield the government from embarrassment or scrutiny,” SPJ said.

The Society called upon the FBI and the Department of Justice to “explain how this action complies with both the letter and the spirit of the Privacy Protection Act — and why less intrusive alternatives were not exhausted before resorting to such an extreme measure.” SPJ also called on Congress to “exercise immediate oversight of the Department of Justice to reaffirm its commitment to press freedom and all public officials to remember a fundamental truth: When journalists are silenced, the public is left in the dark.”

View the entire statement here.