From the Organizers: 

KALW examines how journalists can protect themselves, their sources and their devices in the current climate, with AHCJ and SPJ NorCal

The Bay Area chapter of the Association of Health Care Journalists and Society of Professional Jouralists Northern California come to KALW for a live panel discussion supporting the rights of journalists.

In one of the most high-profile recent cases, FBI agents raided the home of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson on January 14, confiscating her electronic devices, which they said were tied to a classified documents case. Press freedom groups called the action “a tremendous intrusion,” by the Trump administration. In another recent case, former CNN anchor Don Lemon was arrested on January 29 while covering an anti-ICE protest at a church in Minnesota.

The number of assaults on journalists in the United States in 2025 “nearly equals the last three years combined,” according to an AP article. The Trump administration’s attacks on press freedom and journalists is constant. As recently as March 17, President Trump, in social media posts accused news outlets of “lies” that might warrant “charges of treason,” for their coverage of the war in Iran.

In this panel discussion participants will learn:

• What kinds of security and safety issues journalists are experiencing
• How to assess their own risk
• How to fortify the security of their electronic devices to better protect themselves and their sources
• How one newsroom has implemented safety protocols for their journalists, sources and devices

Speakers include

• William Budington, senior technologist, Electronic Frontier Foundation
• Martin Shelton, deputy director of digital security, Freedom of the Press Foundation
• Matthew Tinoco, CEO and founder of the Los Angeles Public Press
• Laurie Udesky, Independent journalist: Panel organizer and moderator

Where:

220 Montgomery St., San Francisco, 2 blocks from BART/MUNI

Cost:

Refer to website

Event Requirements:

Registration is required.

Bill Budington is a longtime activist, cryptography enthusiast, and a Senior Staff Technologist on EFF's Public Interest Technology team. His research has been featured in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, and cited by the U.S. Congress. He is the lead developer of Cover Your Tracks, apkeep, led HTTPS Everywhere from 2015 to 2018, and has contributed to projects like Let's Encrypt and SecureDrop. Bill has spoken at USENIX Enigma (2016), HOPE (2014, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2024), DEF CON (2023), CCC (2017), InfoSec Southwest (2017), ShmooCon (2019, 2020), and other infosec conferences. Bill's primary interest lies in dismantling systems of oppression, building up collaborative alternatives and, to borrow a phrase from Zapatismo, fighting for a 'world in which many worlds fit.' He loves hacker spaces and getting together with other techies to tinker, code, share, and build the technological commons..

About KALW: