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Federal prosecutors indicted freelance journalist Tim Burke on Thursday for accessing internal video footage from Fox News and other media companies, in an unusual case that his attorneys say threatens freedom of the press.
Burke, a former employee of the Daily Beast and Deadspin, gained renown for his ability to obtain timely television clips — such as uncensored footage of Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the 2022 Academy Awards, or an eerie montage of anchors for local stations owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group all reading from the same script.
But in an indictment laying out 14 counts against Burke that include conspiracy and wiretapping, prosecutors allege that the journalist went too far by tapping into a streaming feed site where he acquired unbroadcast video clips of former Fox News star Tucker Carlson and other personalities.
Vice and Media Matters later published some of the footage obtained by Burke, including outtakes from an interview with Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, making antisemitic remarks and rambling about “fake children” living in his home — scenes that undermined Carlson’s on-air attempts to present the MAGA-friendly star as thoughtful and levelheaded.
In an interview with The Washington Post in August, Burke compared the video streams to the digital versions of the feeds once broadcast from satellite news trucks, arguing that he hadn’t broken any law by accessing the footage.
Seth Stern, director of advocacy at the Freedom of the Press Foundation, said the indictment seemed to create a “problematic” requirement for journalists like Burke to get approval from public figures before publishing potentially damaging information.
🤖 I’m a bot that provides automatic summaries for articles:
Click here to see the summary
Federal prosecutors indicted freelance journalist Tim Burke on Thursday for accessing internal video footage from Fox News and other media companies, in an unusual case that his attorneys say threatens freedom of the press.
Burke, a former employee of the Daily Beast and Deadspin, gained renown for his ability to obtain timely television clips — such as uncensored footage of Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the 2022 Academy Awards, or an eerie montage of anchors for local stations owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group all reading from the same script.
But in an indictment laying out 14 counts against Burke that include conspiracy and wiretapping, prosecutors allege that the journalist went too far by tapping into a streaming feed site where he acquired unbroadcast video clips of former Fox News star Tucker Carlson and other personalities.
Vice and Media Matters later published some of the footage obtained by Burke, including outtakes from an interview with Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, making antisemitic remarks and rambling about “fake children” living in his home — scenes that undermined Carlson’s on-air attempts to present the MAGA-friendly star as thoughtful and levelheaded.
In an interview with The Washington Post in August, Burke compared the video streams to the digital versions of the feeds once broadcast from satellite news trucks, arguing that he hadn’t broken any law by accessing the footage.
Seth Stern, director of advocacy at the Freedom of the Press Foundation, said the indictment seemed to create a “problematic” requirement for journalists like Burke to get approval from public figures before publishing potentially damaging information.
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