Kira, being the kind and wonderful friend she is, accepted my award for me last night from the Presswomen of Texas. I won second place for an editorial entitled "Police behavior raises eyebrows, concerns: Treatment of journalists at RNC infringes First Amendment protections". (Appropriately, Kira won first place in the same category with a piece on Sunshine Week.)
Reprinted here is the article for which I won the award, which ran in the Observer on September 17, 2008. All work is my own intellectual property unless otherwise stated.
Police behavior raises eyebrows, concerns
Treatment of journalists at RNC infringes First Amendment protections
It should come as no surprise that tensions and tempers ran high during the Republican National Convention (RNC) that lasted from Sept. 1-4. It was inevitable that such an emotionally and politically charged atmosphere would see its share of violent outbursts, and that the Twin Cities police would step in. That's their job. And putting themselves in the middle of these volatile situations to report the news is the job of journalists.
This responsibility and right of the press tends to lead them into conflict with those charged with maintaining order, and both parties have to toe a very fine line.
The Twin Cities Police Department, however, crossed the line in the case of University of Kentucky journalism students Ed Matthews and Brittany McIntosh and their faculty adviser Jim Winn.
Though not assigned to cover the RNC by the Kentucky Kernel, the university's student newspaper, the two photographers and the Kernel's photo adviser went to Minneapolis to gain professional experience. All were marked clearly with press passes and carrying their photography equipment when they were arrested on charges of felony riot, a felony that carries a minimum of one year incarceration and a fine of at least $3,000.
Winn was reportedly thrown to the ground and arrested at gunpoint, and McIntosh received the same treatment after walking with her hands in the air as police advanced.
A now-infamous photo of Ed Matthews shows him, camera poised, turning his head to avoid a stream of pepper spray fired by police. The Associated Press photographer who captured the image, Mark Rourke, was arrested in the same incident and released within a few hours with no charges filed. Winn, McIntosh and Matthews were released after being detained for two days, with charges pending investigation.
Rourke and the Kentucky journalists weren't the only victims. Amy Goodman, host of syndicated radio and television program Democracy Now!, was arrested for asking two police officers in riot gear about the status of two producers of the program who had already been arrested. The arresting officers cited the reason for arrest as a misdemeanor of "obstructing the legal process."
The policy of "arrest them all and sort them out later" adopted by the Twin Cities Police makes a certain degree of sense; after all, riot situations are by definition chaotic and violent, with journalists wielding cameras rubbing elbows with rioters armed with rocks and bricks. But to detain students and professors for two days for doing nothing more than being journalists is to cross the line from law enforcement into suppression of journalistic freedom. Goodman's arrest, as shown by the footage freely available on Web sites such as YouTube, didn't occur amidst booted feet, riot shields, tear gas and thrown rocks.
Whatever the excesses of the Twin Cities police in dealing with protesters, their conduct and the treatment of journalists was unprofessional and capricious. In the name of protecting the public, those assigned to guard the RNC violated the essential premise underlying the First Amendment: The press, too, exists to safeguard the public, at times from those who profess to serve and protect.
Reprinted here is the article for which I won the award, which ran in the Observer on September 17, 2008. All work is my own intellectual property unless otherwise stated.
Police behavior raises eyebrows, concerns
Treatment of journalists at RNC infringes First Amendment protections
It should come as no surprise that tensions and tempers ran high during the Republican National Convention (RNC) that lasted from Sept. 1-4. It was inevitable that such an emotionally and politically charged atmosphere would see its share of violent outbursts, and that the Twin Cities police would step in. That's their job. And putting themselves in the middle of these volatile situations to report the news is the job of journalists.
This responsibility and right of the press tends to lead them into conflict with those charged with maintaining order, and both parties have to toe a very fine line.
The Twin Cities Police Department, however, crossed the line in the case of University of Kentucky journalism students Ed Matthews and Brittany McIntosh and their faculty adviser Jim Winn.
Though not assigned to cover the RNC by the Kentucky Kernel, the university's student newspaper, the two photographers and the Kernel's photo adviser went to Minneapolis to gain professional experience. All were marked clearly with press passes and carrying their photography equipment when they were arrested on charges of felony riot, a felony that carries a minimum of one year incarceration and a fine of at least $3,000.
Winn was reportedly thrown to the ground and arrested at gunpoint, and McIntosh received the same treatment after walking with her hands in the air as police advanced.
A now-infamous photo of Ed Matthews shows him, camera poised, turning his head to avoid a stream of pepper spray fired by police. The Associated Press photographer who captured the image, Mark Rourke, was arrested in the same incident and released within a few hours with no charges filed. Winn, McIntosh and Matthews were released after being detained for two days, with charges pending investigation.
Rourke and the Kentucky journalists weren't the only victims. Amy Goodman, host of syndicated radio and television program Democracy Now!, was arrested for asking two police officers in riot gear about the status of two producers of the program who had already been arrested. The arresting officers cited the reason for arrest as a misdemeanor of "obstructing the legal process."
The policy of "arrest them all and sort them out later" adopted by the Twin Cities Police makes a certain degree of sense; after all, riot situations are by definition chaotic and violent, with journalists wielding cameras rubbing elbows with rioters armed with rocks and bricks. But to detain students and professors for two days for doing nothing more than being journalists is to cross the line from law enforcement into suppression of journalistic freedom. Goodman's arrest, as shown by the footage freely available on Web sites such as YouTube, didn't occur amidst booted feet, riot shields, tear gas and thrown rocks.
Whatever the excesses of the Twin Cities police in dealing with protesters, their conduct and the treatment of journalists was unprofessional and capricious. In the name of protecting the public, those assigned to guard the RNC violated the essential premise underlying the First Amendment: The press, too, exists to safeguard the public, at times from those who profess to serve and protect.
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