Understorey: Environmental #journalismisNOTacrime

Environmentalists risk losing their most important link with the public, as governments attempt to criminalise investigative media reporting they say threatens security but may be more intended to shut down the right to know.  French journalists at the Adani blockade were astonished to be stopped from filming, detained for seven hours, finally charged with trespass, and then forbidden by bail conditions from coming within 20 km of Adani’s Carmichael mine site - all for reporting on one of the world's most contentious coal projects.  Recent AFP raids on the ABC and a News Corp journalist’s home also have a chilling effect on journalists and whistleblowers, knowing news rooms now can be forced to divulge sources. Backdoor passwords, limited FOI, commercial-in-confidence, there's a whole grabbag of government tricks: Understorey went along to the MEAA rally on Sunday to learn more about the link between environmental campaigning, our democracy, and #journalismisNOTacrime. (Images: Simon Stevens-photography, MEAA, Takver CC BY-SA 2.0)