Digiwonder?

I just listened to a segment of NPR’s On the Media titled, Clink-Stained Wretch. describes the story of blogger Josh Wolf, who has been jailed in an American prison longer than any other journalist (6 months) for refusing to testify in federal court and hand over video footage, which he took at a September 2005 G8 protest in California.

Wolf’s footage captured protesters fighting with police and allegedly damaging a police car (considered federal property). While Wolf sold some of the footage to a local TV station, put some up on his website, he kept other footage that contains shots of the protesters that he has come to know as he’s been documenting civil dissent in the San Francisco Bay area for tow-and-a-half years (http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/47999/). This is what the court has subpoenaed and desires Wolf to testify on.

The subpoena is actually signed by the Joint Terrorism Task Force. Wolf and his lawyer, Martin Garbus, along with the ACLU, argue that he should not be compelled to testify and identify the unmasked protesters that he filmed as it shows no footage of the clashes.

There are many thoughts circling through my head as I digest this story. On the one hand, I believe the police are in the right to investigate crimes committed against them. I also feel we do need to be vigilant and smart about investigating terrorist threats.

But on the other hand, I can’t help but feel that the case is less about the police wanting to discipline a protester, but more about heavy handed citizen surveillance, and a McCarthy like persecution of liberals. While we only have to listen to the daily news to understand why a terrorism task force is important, this case seems to be one more example of anti-terrorism dollars being spent foolishly.

The story of Wolf raises another complicated question. In today’s Post 9/11 climate, and given our conservative Supreme Court, how will journalists’ rights fare? Will we see them narrow in the coming years? Specifically, how will bloggers be viewed? Will they be considered journalists in the same way newspaper writers or television or radio and TV reporters are?

I hope our justices work in such a way that mitigates not only our fear of terrorism striking our soil again, but also our fear that we are loosing more freedom and privacy than necessary.