SAN FRANCISCO, CA (August 7) – The National Press Photographers Association's president led a press conference by leaders of journalism organizations on Saturday protesting the jailing of a video journalist and recent court rulings that pressure journalists to release information to the government. The media organizations together represent nearly 85,000 journalists worldwide, and they are jointly protesting "the U.S. government's assault on journalists' ability to protect confidential sources and unpublished material."
"We are making a stand against violations that we feel threaten the continuance of free press in America," NPPA president Tony Overman said. "We stand before you today to express our outrage over this week's court rulings across the country that assault a journalists' ability to protect confidential sources and unpublished material. The threat of imprisonment to strong arm reporters and photojournalists into violating these protections is an unnecessary move that flies in the face of the state shield laws established by legislatures specifically to provide such protections."
"When news sources believe that statements or actions observed or reported by journalists find their way into the hands of police or prosecutors, those sources will be less willing — or flat-out afraid — to cooperate with the media," Overman said at the news conference.
The press conference was in direct response to last week's ruling in U.S. District Court to jail video journalist Joshua Wolf for refusing to turn over unaired videotape of a protest that resulted in damage to a San Francisco police car. The panel also addressed new and separate rulings against reporters at the San Francisco Chronicle to divulge a confidential source, and against The New York Times to open reporters phone records to prosecutors.
Overman, a photojournalist from Olympia, WA, was backed by David Carlson, president of the Society of Professional Journalists; Dr. Julie Newton of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (AEJMC); Dr. Frank Fee, also of the AEJMC's Committee on Professional Freedom and Responsibility; and other educators and journalists supporting a call for government to back off on such demands.
NPPA and SPJ also announced that they will help pay for Wolf's legal defense.
“The threat of imprisonment to strong-arm reporters and photojournalists into violating these protections is an unnecessary move that flies in the face of the state shield laws established by legislatures specifically to provide such protections,” Overman said. "It sends a shiver down the spine of anyone considering talking to the media, and will result in an environment where the public's need to know is suppressed by the government's desire for token investigations and effortless prosecutions."
U.S. District Judge William Alsup jailed Wolf for refusal to turn over to a federal grand jury his unaired video of a protest in San Francisco. The Washington Post reported that the judge said he was not jailing the journalist to punish him. “The purpose of this is to get you to change your mind,” Alsup was quoted as saying.
"We condemn this action and submit that Wolf should be immediately released from prison," Overman said. "His case is particularly disturbing because state and federal prosecutors apparently joined forces in circumventing California's comprehensive state shield law, claiming that the burning of a police car falls under federal purview because the San Francisco Police Department uses federal funds to purchase its police vehicles."
"In almost all cases such crimes would be considered a violation of state law. So, with adequate local and state laws already available to prosecute the protesters, the move to federal court makes clear the intent of the executive branch: they want a journalist to do their job for them. We feel this is an end run by the federal government to force journalists to become an arm of law enforcement."
"Of course we condemn the action of those who burned the police car, but that point is irrelevant. Journalists like Joshua Wolf, the San Francisco Chronicle's Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada, and The New York Times' Judith Miller and Philip Shenon are not merely protecting sources, they are protecting the right of journalists to gather and disseminate the news."
Videographer's Jailing, Court Rulings, Exemplify Need for Federal Shield Law
