Defend the Press and Sarah Olson

[Postman]

http://www.commondreams.org/views07/0128-26.htm

This is the real-world context in which Sarah Olson, Dahr Jamail and other journalists are being dragged into the court martial of the first commissioned officer to refuse deployment to the war in Iraq. Lieutenant Ehren Watada is trying to put the Iraq war itself on trial in his court martial because he believes it is illegal, and that is the basis of his refusal to deploy. The military court has shut down his efforts to try the war. Worse yet, by subpoenaing independent journalist Sarah Olson, the President of the United States is sending a message to both military families and the press -- shut up and be silent or there will be trouble.

[brer cat]

1. I saw this earlier on commondreams, and wondered

if it had been on DU.

Another bit:

"A revolt is underway in the ranks of the military families who have borne the greatest burden among Americans for the Bush administration's disastrous, and apparently escalating, war in Iraq. Clearly this Administration remembers how opposition from soldiers and their families was key to stopping the war in Vietnam, and it is seeking to drive a wedge between military families, soldiers, the press they might talk with and the public who would see, hear and read their reporting."

This is important, and I hope it is widely read.

K&R

[pacalo]

2. Good find, Postman.

Stand Up for a Free Press: Join the Coalition

Defend The Press is a coalition that believes journalists should not be forced to participate in government prosecutions — especially prosecutions seeking to criminalize political speech. The coalition is made up of organizations, journalists, and individuals from across the political spectrum that are working together to defend Sarah Olson and journalists like her that need more protections in this new age of media.

The coalition wants to help Sarah Olson get the military subpoena dismissed, and to secure more protections for journalists in this new age of media. Please take a moment to read our letter of support for Sarah Olson (see below). We would be honored to have you, and/or your organization, newspaper, journal, website, or blog, join this growing movement to guarantee the separation between press and state.

Thank you,
Scott Goodstein & John Stauber,
Defend the Press Coalition / Center for Media and Democracy

Statement of Support for Sarah Olson

We, the undersigned journalists, academics, artists and citizens, object to the Army's decision to subpoena independent journalist and radio producer Sarah Olson, and Honolulu Star-Bulletin reporter Greg Kakesako, to testify in the court-martial of 1st Lt. Ehren Watada, the first officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq. We are further disturbed by the Army's decision to add independent journalist Dahr Jamail and videographer Sari Gelzer to the prosecution's witness list.

It is a journalist's job to report the news, not to participate in government prosecutions. The press cannot function if it is used by the government to prosecute political speech. Hauling a journalist into a military court erodes the separation between government and press. Turning reporters into the investigative arm of the government subverts press freedoms, and chills dissenting speech in the United States. The press must preserve its ability to cover all aspects of a debate, not just the perspectives popular with the current administration. We believe a journalist's duty is to the public and its right to know — not to the government.

In the name of the cornerstone values this nation claims to uphold and for which the men and women in the military are fighting, we ask that you put an end to your insistence that journalists participate in the court-martial of Lt. Watada. We need more information, participation, and debate — not less. As the Los Angeles Times argued in its January 8 editorial: "It's time for the Army to back off."

Coalition Members
Martha Allen, Women's Institute for Freedom of the Press
John Anderson, producer, Media Minutes and DIYmedia.net
Felicity Arbuthnot, journalist
Anthony Arnove, author, Iraq: The Logic of Withdrawal; member, National Writers Union
Barbara Nimri Aziz, PhD, producer WBAI, author
Russ Baker, founder, the Real News Project
Diana Barahona, independent journalist
David Barsamian, author and founder, Alternative Radio
Pauline Bartolene, freelance journalist and radio producer
Larry Bensky, KPFA Pacifica Radio
John Berendt, author and former editor-in-chief, New York Magazine
Joel Bleifuss, Editor, In These Times
Carl Boggs, author and professor
Dan Brook, Ph.D., professor San Jose State University
Craig Brown, editor, Common Dreams
Karen Buczynski, filmmaker
Matthew Cardinale, News Editor, Atlanta Progressive News
Noam Chomsky, professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Anson Chong, former Hawaii State Senator
Jeff Cohen, writer, lecturer and media critic
Mick Collins, theatre artist
Paul D'Amato, managing editor, International Socialist Review
Lawrence DiStasi, writer
Phil Donahue, producer and commentator
Mark Dowie, former UC Berkeley School of Journalism professor, author, publisher
Daniel Ellsberg, author and activist
Barbara Ehrenreich, author
Reese Erlich, journalist
Mike Farrell, actor
Deepa Fernandez, radio host, author
Laura Flanders, RadioNation, Air America
Linda K. Foley, president, The Newspaper Guild-CWA
Geoffrey Fox, PhD, author and journalist
Marlene Gerber Fried, Director, Civil Liberties and Public Policy, Hampshire College
Susan Gleason, co-director, Reclaim the Media
Liv Gold, writer and radio host
David Goodman, radio producer
Robert Greenwald, director, Brave New Films
Larry Gross, director, School of Communication, Annenberg School, USC
DeeDee Halleck, indepedent film maker
Dr. Betsy Hartmann, author and professor, Hampshire College
Don Hazen, Executive Editor, AlterNet
Edward S. Herman, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
Phil Hey, Briar Cliff University
Doug Ireland, journalist and commentator
Marcus Jacobs, propaganda press
Robert Jensen, professor of journalism, University of Texas
Lamont Johnson, stage produce and director
Linda Jue, journalist
Rob Kall, opednews.com
Deepa Kumar, assistant professor, Rutgers University
Tony Kushner, playwright
Anthony Lappé, Executive Editor, Guerrilla News Network
Peter Laufer, author and journalist
Thomas Lipscomb, Fellow, Annenberg Center for the Digital Future
Mike Lux, Chair, American Family Voices
Alan Maass, editor, Socialist Worker
Lucinda Marshall, Feminist Peace Network
Scott McLemee, member, National Book Critics Circle
Robert McChesney, founder, Free Press
Larry Merchant, sports writer and commentator
Deena Metzger, writer
John Nichols, political writer, The Nation
Peggy O'Mara, executive director, Mothering Magazine
Geneva Overholser, professor, University of Missouri School of Journalism
Greg Palast, author and journalist
Christian Parenti, journalist
Michael Parenti, Ph.D., author and social commentator
E. Barbara Phillips, Ph.D., Professor emerita, San Francisco State University
Peter Phillips, Director, Project Censored
Jennifer Pozner, executive director, Women In Media and News
Andrea Prichett, founding member, Berkeley Copwatch; teacher
Phillip Paul Ratliff, reverend
Rob Robinson, Director, the Pacifica Foundation
Eric Ruder, reporter
Aram Saroyan, poet, playwright, novelist
Keely Savoie, writer and journalist
Sydney Schanberg, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
Danny Schechter, Editor, Media Channel
Wendy Schroell, Pacifica Radio and KPFT Houston
Beth Schwartzapfel, writer and journalist
Ben Scott, Policy Director, Free Press
Jocelynne A. Scutt, Barrister and Human Rights Lawyer
Gar Smith, journalist
Nancy Snow, author and professor, California State University–Fullerton
Daniel del Solar, Former General Manager KALW-FM, WYBE-TV
Norman Solomon, syndicated media columnist
Jayne Lyn Stahl, founder, Writers-at-Large
John Stauber, Executive Director, Center for Media and Democracy
Inger Stole, author and board member, Center for Media and Democracy
Jan Strout, Co-Director, Reclaim the Media
Jonathan Tasini, President Emeritus, National Writers Union
Melinda Tuhus, Free Speech Radio News
Louis Wolf, Covert Action Quarterly
Sherry Wolf, editorial board, International Socialist Review
Burton H. Wolfe, author
Melissa Young, independent TV journalist
Howard Zinn, historian, playwright and social activist
David Zirin, writer,The Nation
Jerry Zremski, president, National Press Club

AlterNet
http://www.alternet.org

After Downing Street
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org

Center for Media and Democracy
http://www.prwatch.org

FAIR (Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting)
http://www.fair.org

First Amendment Project
http://www.thefirstamendment.org

Free Press
http://www.freepress.net

Media Alliance
http://www.media-alliance.org

MediaChannel
http://www.mediachannel.org
Mother Jones magazine
http://www.motherjones.com

Mothering Magazine
http://www.mothering.com

National Press Club
http://npc.press.org

National Radio Project
http://www.radioproject.org

Organic Consumers Association
http://www.organicconsumers.org

Progressive Democrats of America
http://www.pdamerica.org

Reclaim the Media
http://www.reclaimthemedia.org

Women in Media and News
http://www.wimnonline.org