Journalist Josh Wolf’s Courageous Stand
By Amy Goodman, Democracy Now! Posted February 16, 2007
(posted on AlterNet)
Imprisoned reporter Josh Wolf and his attorney explain why his jailing for refusal to release video footage is an attack on journalism itself.
Josh Wolf, 24, has spent almost six months in jail, more time than any journalist in U.S. history, for protecting his sources. He was jailed on Aug. 1 of last year when he refused to turn over video that he had shot of an anti-G8 demonstration in San Francisco to a federal grand jury.
Wolf had sold some of the footage to the nightly news as well as posted some on his website. The news broadcast attracted the attention of local and federal law enforcement agents who were investigating clashes between the police and demonstrators at the protest. They later served Wolf a federal subpoena requiring him to turn over his unpublished video footage as well as testify about the protesters seen on the tape. When Wolf refused to comply, he was charged with contempt of court and incarcerated.
Wolf’s imprisonment has prompted outcries by advocates for freedom of the press who say it is out of proportion to the scale of the investigation. Lucie Morrillon of Reporters without Borders has stated, ”This is one more example of the increasing attacks on confidentiality of sources in the United States, one more blow to investigative journalism and, eventually, to the right for American people to be informed. This is a bad signal sent to the rest of the world.”