You won’t hear much about it in the tightly scripted primetime broadcasts from St. Paul, but local law enforcement is rounding up reporters in an aggressive – and sometimes violent – sweep outside the Republican National Convention. Their crime: committing journalism.

Those arrested Monday while trying to cover street protests include Amy Goodman of the national radio and television program Democracy Now! and two producers from her show, as well as a photographer from the Associated Press. They’ve since been released, but the Democracy Now! team still faces serious charges.

Other independent journalists have been pepper-sprayed and even held at gunpoint during “pre-emptive” raids aimed at disrupting protesters. Two videographers from Seattle’s Pepperspray Productions and several Kentucky journalism students remain behind bars as of this writing.

Free Press, the national, nonpartisan media reform group, is calling on St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman and local law enforcement officials to immediately release from custody and drop all charges against any journalists arrested while covering events surrounding the RNC. In less than 24 hours, more than 35,000 people from across the country have signed letters protesting this gross violation of free speech and freedom of the press.

Groups like the Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters Without Borders and the National Association for Hispanic Journalists have also spoken out against the mistreatment of the press. But the mayor’s office and local law enforcement have offered no explanation for their actions or assurances they will respect the First Amendment right of journalists – whether inside the convention or in the streets where news is happening – to do their jobs.

Reporting by independent journalists is the only way for the American public to learn the full story, and they must be free to work without intimidation.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008 at 12:53 pm and is filed under Politics .