Journalist

Trump to attend correspondents’ dinner for first time as president, while some newsrooms ‘wrestle’ with whether to goThe White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) is surely hoping that Donald Trump will take a more diplomatic tone later this month when he makes his first appearance as president at the organization’s glitzy dinner in Washington DC, an annual event meant to honor and celebrate journalists and press freedom.On Monday, Trump threatened to imprison a journalist if they refused to reveal the source of information that a second US airman was still missing after being shot down by Iran last Friday, which he claimed put the service member at risk. Continue reading...

Courtney Williams accused of sharing material with reporter examining deaths and drugs at US military baseThe FBI has arrested a former military special operations employee accused of providing classified information to the media, the agency’s director Kash Patel announced on Wednesday.The US Department of Justice said in a press release that the former employee, identified as Courtney Williams, 40, was arrested on Tuesday and indicted on Wednesday for allegedly sharing classified material with a journalist. Continue reading...

• The U.S. State Department announced the release of American journalist Shelly Kittleson, marking a key diplomatic achievement. • The press statement highlights ongoing efforts to secure the freedom of detained U.S. citizens abroad amid heightened global tensions. • This development follows recent foreign policy shifts, potentially signaling improved negotiations with adversarial governments.

Freelancer Shelly Kittleson was reportedly held by Iran-backed militia which says she must now leave countryThe US journalist Shelly Kittleson, who was kidnapped from a Baghdad street corner last week, has been released, according to an Iraqi official with direct knowledge of the situation.Kittleson was freed in the afternoon, said the official, who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly. He did not share her current whereabouts but said that before her release, she had been held in Baghdad. Continue reading...

Trump targets media to find ‘leaker’ who revealed that a US airman was missing after being shot down by Iranian forcesDonald Trump threatened to jail a journalist – or journalists – who reported that a second US airman was missing after being shot down by Iran on Friday in a bid to identify their source.The badly injured airman hid in a mountain crevice to avoid capture before being rescued by a US recovery team that took on heavy fire. The US president announced on Sunday that the service member had been recovered. Continue reading...

State department says it is working to ensure release of freelancer ‘as soon as possible’ after abduction in BaghdadAn American journalist, Shelly Kittleson, has been kidnapped in Baghdad by a suspected Iranian-backed Iraqi armed group, the US said, as regional security deteriorates after the US-Israeli attack on Iran.Kittleson is a longtime freelancer in the region, reporting extensively from Syria, Iraq and Lebanon. Continue reading...

Israeli military says primary target, killed in a missile strike far from the frontlines, was a Hezbollah ‘terrorist’Middle East crisis – live updatesIsrael killed three journalists in south Lebanon on Saturday, their TV channels and authorities said, prompting condemnation from the Lebanese government who called the killings a “blatant war crime”.Ali Shoeib, from the Hezbollah-owned al-Manar television station, Fatima Ftouni and her brother and cameraman Mohammed Ftouni from the pro-Hezbollah outlet al-Mayadeen, were killed in the strike targeting their car. Continue reading...