Communicating Arts - Main Web SiteWhile Goodman's definition is acceptable to most, journalists can have a mistaken sense of entitlement or of greater protections than the average Joe, says Jane Kirtley, professor of media ethics and law school of Journalism at the University of Minnesota.
"The First Amendment protects journalists same as everybody else," says Kirtley.
"A press credential does not give greater protection."
Source: http://www.minnpost.com/stories/2008/09/02/3295/amy_goodmans_arrest_when_journalists_are_the_story
The first five references on my Googled list were based on "Democracy Now!" materials, and practically without question: pure monkey-hear, monkey-repeat.
I had a question as to whether she had her credentials at the arrest point (or whether they may have been confiscated, possibly illegally, inside the convention all). I'll have to Google through yesterday to get that, I suppose.
The "zero tolerance" philosophy in force on the police line may be analogous, but sideways, to seeing a small water spot on a ceiling--it lets you know the roof leaks: how bad do you want it to get?
The message from the police who arrested Amy Goodman may be, "If you're in it, you're in it" and that does away with, "But officer, I belong here."
The sorting out takes place afterwards--and there's no missing observation: from the sidelines, from the "blotter" the story's going to be told in full.
No one's rights have been abridged; some assumptions about favoring treatment--permitting some civilians to be in police-defined zone of control and not others--however, may have been called into question.
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Fools rush in. "Privilege" must still bow to legal authority.
LCDR Tammy Swofford, USNR, NC
Posted by: tammy swofford | September 04, 2008 at 07:43 AM