A US federal agency that staged a fake news conference to make itself look better and a police department that charged a woman for swearing were among the winners of the 2008 Jefferson Muzzle Awards for those deemed to have violated free speech.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency staged a news conference during the California wildfires. Agency employees posed as journalists and asked officials soft questions while real reporters got short notice of the event and could only listen in without asking questions.
Police in Scranton, Pennsylvania, won a Muzzle for filing criminal charges against Dawn Herb, who screamed profanities that were heard by a neighbour when a toilet in her home overflowed.
