Media Alert: Defend the First Amendment
In anticipation of police repression at the anti-NATO protests in Chicago starting this weekend, FreePress is asking people to sign on to this letter to send a message on the rights of free speech and freedom of the press.
Since September, police have arrested dozens of journalists and activists around the country for the “crime” of trying to document political protests in public spaces.
People with smartphones and cameras are changing the way we record and share breaking news. In return, police have targeted, harassed — and in many cases, arrested — those trying to bear witness.
Whether you’re a credentialed journalist, a protester or a bystander with a camera, you are guaranteed freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and freedom of access to information. In the digital age, these freedoms mean that we all have the right to record.
Free Press and a coalition of free speech and digital rights groups have sent a letter urging Attorney General Eric Holder and the Justice Department to defend this right.
Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy 