Union seeks uniform journalist shield laws

AUSTRALIA needs a consistent set of shield laws to protect journalists with confidential sources amid an unprecedented assault on press freedom, a media union says.

With at least five journalists across the country currently fighting court orders to reveal their sources or face contempt of court convictions, the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance (MEAA) wants the Standing Council on Law and Justice representing attorneys-general across all jurisdictions to create uniform shield laws.

While some states have introduced such laws, many are riddled with inconsistencies and loopholes, and only a uniform approach will give journalists the protection they need to tell stories the public need to hear, MEAA director of media Paul Murphy said.

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Journalist 'conspired with Anonymous'

Matthew Keys has been charged for allegedly conspiring with the group "Anonymous" to hack into and alter an online Los Angeles Times news story. Source: Twitter

US FEDERAL officials have charged a social media editor for the Reuters news service with conspiring with the group Anonymous to hack into and alter an online Los Angeles Times news story.

Matthew Keys gave Anonymous members login credentials to the computer network of Tribune Co., which owns the Times, in December 2010, the FBI said. Keys had been fired from a Tribune-owned television station in Sacramento two months earlier.

According to the federal grand jury indictment handed down in Sacramento, a hacker altered a Times news story posted December 14 and 15, 2010, to read "Pressure builds in House to elect CHIPPY 1337."

The indictment alleges that Keys, 26, and another hacker failed in another attempt to access the Tribune computer system after the Times hack. Keys acquired the login information while serving as the web producer for the Sacramento-based FOX station KTXL, which is owned by Tribune Co.

The New Jersey native is charged with one count each of conspiracy to transmit information to damage a protected computer, as well transmitting and attempting to transmit that information. If convicted, Keys faces up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 for each count.

A spokesman for Thomson Reuters Corp. declined comment.

Keys is scheduled for arraignment in Sacramento federal court April 14. He didn't respond to email inquiries and messages sent through his Twitter account and Facebook page Thursday.

The indictment comes on the heels of recent hacks into the computer systems of two other US media companies that own The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Both newspapers reported in February that their computer systems had been infiltrated by China-based hackers, likely to monitor media coverage the Chinese government deems important.

View the original article here

Journalist 'conspired with Anonymous'

Matthew Keys has been charged for allegedly conspiring with the group "Anonymous" to hack into and alter an online Los Angeles Times news story. Source: Twitter

US FEDERAL officials have charged a social media editor for the Reuters news service with conspiring with the group Anonymous to hack into and alter an online Los Angeles Times news story.

Matthew Keys gave Anonymous members login credentials to the computer network of Tribune Co., which owns the Times, in December 2010, the FBI said. Keys had been fired from a Tribune-owned television station in Sacramento two months earlier.

According to the federal grand jury indictment handed down in Sacramento, a hacker altered a Times news story posted December 14 and 15, 2010, to read "Pressure builds in House to elect CHIPPY 1337."

The indictment alleges that Keys, 26, and another hacker failed in another attempt to access the Tribune computer system after the Times hack. Keys acquired the login information while serving as the web producer for the Sacramento-based FOX station KTXL, which is owned by Tribune Co.

The New Jersey native is charged with one count each of conspiracy to transmit information to damage a protected computer, as well transmitting and attempting to transmit that information. If convicted, Keys faces up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 for each count.

A spokesman for Thomson Reuters Corp. declined comment.

Keys is scheduled for arraignment in Sacramento federal court April 14. He didn't respond to email inquiries and messages sent through his Twitter account and Facebook page Thursday.

The indictment comes on the heels of recent hacks into the computer systems of two other US media companies that own The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Both newspapers reported in February that their computer systems had been infiltrated by China-based hackers, likely to monitor media coverage the Chinese government deems important.

View the original article here