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Independent journalist facing jail
SARAH OLSON, INDEPENDENT JOURNALIST, FACES PRISON FOR SIMPLY DOING HER JOB
DATELINE: 14/2/07
The Center for Media and Democracy today launched Defend The Press, a new coalition of journalists, public interest groups, academics and citizen activists. Defend The Press is asking the US Army to drop its subpoena of Sarah Olson, an independent print and radio journalist based in Oakland, California, in the court martial of Iraq war resister Lieutenant Ehren Watada. Olson interviewed Watada in May 2006, and in June he announced he would not go to war in Iraq, challenging its legality. Watada's Army court martial begins February 5, 2007, at Fort Lewis, Washington.
Sarah needs your help. Visit the Defend The Press website at www.DefendThePress.org to support her!
Sarah Olson has been served with a subpoena from the President of the United States requiring her to be a prosecution witness against Lieutenant Watada. The subpoena states "failure to appear may result in your being taken into custody and brought before the court martial." Olson risks felony charges, jail and a fine if she fails to cooperate.
Sarah Olson recently wrote in an editorial column, "I stand firmly by a conviction I share with many: a member of the press should never be placed in the position of aiding a government prosecution of political speech. This goes against the grain of even the most basic understanding of the First Amendment's free press guarantees and the expectation of a democracy that relies on a free flow of information and perspectives without fear of censure or retribution."
Defend The Press believes journalists should not be forced to participate in government prosecutions — especially prosecutions seeking to criminalize political speech. Defend The Press supports Sarah Olson and journalists like her; independent journalists especially need stronger protection of their rights in the age of the Internet.
If you are outraged by this attack on freedom of the press, get involved! Visit the Defend The Press website at www.DefendThePress.org to join the campaign!
Among the dozens of noted journalists and authors participating in Defend The Press are Noam Chomsky, Phil Donahue, Daniel Ellsberg, Barbara Ehrenreich, Diane Farsetta, Laura Flanders, Robert McChesney, Greg Palast, Sheldon Rampton and Howard Zinn. Read what they are saying here.
Defend The Press was founded by the non-profit Center for Media and Democracy of Madison, Wisconsin, and by Free Press Working Group of Oakland, California, in the belief that the press cannot function if it is used by the government to prosecute political speech. Turning reporters into the investigative arm of the government subverts press freedoms, and chills dissenting speech in the United States.
If you believe that journalists should serve the public, not government agendas, visit the Defend The Press website at www.DefendthePress.org to make your voice heard!
For more information, visit the Defend The Press website at www.DefendThePress.org, or contact the Center for Media and Democracy by email at editor AT prwatch.org, or by phone at +1 608-260-9713.
LINKSDefend The Press website
Last modified: Thursday, February 15, 2007
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Notices
Events & Announcements
World Press Freedom Day
More reporters are currently imprisoned in Turkey than in any other country in the world. Only a matter of weeks ago lawyers failed to persuade a Turkish court to release a 76-year-old journalist from a Turkish internet news station.
World Press Freedom Day on Friday May 3, 2013 is being marked in Britain by a rally to highlight the dangers facing journalists in Turkey and in this podcast, Nicholas Jones speaks to Barry White, Organiser at the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom, and Sam Bamford, the TUC's policy officer for Eastern Europe and Africa about the importance of a campaign to highlight international press freedom.
The World Press Freedom Day rally is being staged by the National Union of Journalists at the NUJ head office, Gray’s Inn Road, London WC1 on Thursday May 2, 6pm-8pm.
DATELINE: 27/4/13
UK launch of EU media campaign
DATELINE: 13/3/13
The UK launch of a 'European Citizens' Initiative' calling for EU rules against concentration of media power will take place on Thursday March 21 from 11:00am – 12:30pm in Committee Room 4A at the House of Lords, London. Guest speakers will include actor and activist Hugh Grant (pictured), media consultant Claire Enders, Professor Steven Barnett, Barry McCall (President of the NUJ) and Marc Gruber (Director of the European Federation of Journalists).
A European Citizens' Initiative is an official petition, like a Downing Street petition. If it succeeds in gathering a million signatures across the EU, the Commission is obliged to respond.
This petition calls for the EU to act to protect media pluralism and press freedom.
CPBF Annual General Meeting
DATELINE: 1/3/13
Make a note in your diary
Saturday 13 July 2013 from 10.00am
NUJ HQ, 308/312 Gray's Inn Road, London WC1.
Leveson, media ownership, CPBF future work.
DOWNLOAD FREEPRESS NOW
DATELINE: 26/3/10
Download Freepress in PDF, ePub or mobi format. Issue 194 now available.
MEDIA FOR ALL CONFERENCE
DATELINE: 26/3/10
Papers from the Media for All Conference
MEDIA MANIFESTO
DATELINE: 26/3/10
The media’s job is to inform and entertain us but we rely on them too to tell us what our rulers and representatives are up to. In the run-up to the Iraq war the government used spin and disinformation in the media to create panic and mislead people. The truth is coming out now, but we need stronger, more independent media to be able to scrutinise governments and make informed choices.
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Previous stories
Journalism Ethics
Jail for journalists
Landmark Lords Libel Ruling
MEPs campaign to protect sources
It Ain't Half Homophobic, Mum: DeGrading the BBC
European Parliament initiative on protecting sources
'Conversation with a child trafficker'
Reporting Torture
The Moral Mirror
Fake news in the UK
Source's victory for Ackroyd
City Slickers trial
The Rise and Rise of the Censor
Product Placement
Children's rights v. press freedom - who wins?
Children's rights v. press freedom - who wins?
London Bombings: Missing Questions
Alter-EU launched
Marketing Labour
US threat to protection of sources
Protection of sources: 'A denial of justice'
Astroturfing
When errors hit the information superhighway
BBC puts its house in order (complaints-wise)
The Blame Game
Shock jailing of reporter in CIA-leak case
Faking It
The Guardian and the Lexus
Launch of The RAM Report
Aliens in the Media
Lies, Spies & Whistleblowers
