Occupy Wall Street Blog Posts
We Must Protect Our Right to Record
Today is World Press Freedom Day — but it sure doesn’t feel like it here in the U.S.
Since September, police have arrested dozens of journalists and activists around the country for the “crime” of trying to document political protests in public spaces.
People using iPhones, Androids and other mobile devices are changing the way we record and share breaking news. In return, police have targeted, harassed — and in many cases, arrested — those trying to capture images and video of public events.
Sixteen Thousand People Send Messages to Journalists Arrested During Occupy Protests
How should we respond to the unprecedented rise in attacks on freedom of the press we are witnessing worldwide?
From foreign correspondents and citizen reporters being targeted and killed in Syria to new cases of press suppression and intimidation here at home, recent months have provided a series of stark reminders about the risks journalists take to bring us the news we need.
It's Up to Us to Protect the First Amendment
What happens when a journalist is arrested? How do we account for the stories that don’t get told, or the issues that don’t get covered because the press was restricted or behind bars? How do we measure the intimidation journalists feel, and the chill that police intervention places on freedom of the press? One gauge might be the U.S.’s recent drop in global press freedom rankings, down to number 47 worldwide.
As Pressure Builds, Some Cities Respond to Journalist Arrests
After arresting more than 20 journalists in New York City, and threatening press in various other ways, the New York City Police Department has admitted that it has reprimanded only two of its officers for their actions.
Oakland Becomes the Epicenter for Journalist Arrests
While most of the attention surrounding journalist arrests at Occupy protests has focused on New York City, where more than 20 journalists have been detained, it looks like Oakland will be giving the Big Apple a run for its money. On Jan. 28, Oakland police detained six journalists during mass arrests of Occupy protesters. This comes just weeks after Oakland police apprehended another journalist who, in a video of the arrest, appeared to be obeying orders to disperse.
Adding It Up: Press Freedom, Democratic Health and Public Media Funding
This week Reporters Without Borders released its 2011–2012 Press Freedom Index, and much of the attention has focused on the fact that the United States dropped 27 places to 47th in the world, thanks in large part to the journalist arrests at Occupy Wall Street events. For a nation that has built its model of governance on freedom of the press, that ranking should be a wake-up call, and should spark a national debate about how we are going to defend the First Amendment in the digital age.
On its own, the study from Reporters Without Borders is a powerful snapshot of press freedom around the world. However, it’s worth cross-referencing the report’s findings with a few other data points to better understand how the United States stacks up, and why this ranking is so important. When the lists below are viewed side by side, it becomes clear that press freedom correlates directly with other measures of democratic health.
After Journalist Arrests, U.S. Plummets in Global Press Freedom Rankings
In last night’s State of the Union address, President Obama called for a “renewal of American values.” However, over the course of his wide-ranging speech, he made no mention of one core value: the fundamental role of the free press in America.
This absence was highlighted this morning when Reporters Without Borders released its 2011–2012 global Press Freedom Index. After months of journalist arrests and press suppression at Occupy Wall Street-inspired protests, the United States has plummeted in the rankings.
Citizen Journalist Arrests on the Rise at Occupy Protests
Late last Friday journalists and protesters gathered outside the home of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to speak out in defense of the First Amendment. The event drew more police than participants, which only reinforced the message the group hoped to send regarding the NYPD’s heavy-handed approach to journalists covering Occupy Wall Street.
Last fall in New York and Los Angeles, when the cities and police departments internally coordinated efforts to block and suppress press coverage of raids on Occupy encampments, the bulk of the video and images coming out of those events was from citizen journalists and livestreamers. At the time, there was a lot of talk about whether police were intentionally targeting journalists. In light of many of the firsthand accounts from journalists who were arrested and harassed, it appeared so. Ironically, while police arrested and roughed up journalists with credentials and professional equipment, those with cellphone cameras and laptops often passed in and out of police lines documenting the raids.
Chronicle of Journalist Arrests Wins Storify Award
My colleague, Josh Stearns, has been tracking journalist arrests at Occupy protests since the movement launched in September. His documentation of press arrests on social media platform Storify has earned him the site’s nod as “Storify of the Year.”
Since September, 36 journalists have been arrested in 10 cities. Many more have been harassed, roughed up or otherwise hindered while attempting to do their work. The arrests and suppression have occurred even as journalists have identified themselves to police as members of the press.
Free Speech Champion Christopher Hitchens Dies
Christopher Hitchens was a master at offending just about everybody in the room.
Hitchens, who died Thursday from complications related to cancer, first earned his literary stripes as a political firebrand on the left. No cow was too sacred for Hitchens, an atheist who excoriated organized religion in God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything — and lambasted the previously untouchable Mother Teresa in The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice. A longtime lefty, Hitchens alienated his former compatriots when he switched gear in the early aughts and defended the United States invasion of Iraq.
Change the Channels
Check out the interactive map to see consolidating newsrooms near you.
Rules for Commenting
Want to comment on something you read here at SaveTheNews.org? Responses to our blog posts are always welcome, but please be sure to observe our rules for commenting.
To submit a guest post, please contact info@freepress.net.