Category Archives: Free Josh Wolf

Jail this reporter, save the First Amendment

It’s time for William Gertz, a member of the Washington, D.C., press corps, to make a small personal sacrifice to improve the ethics of newspaper journalism. He must go to jail. He must go directly to jail and he must acknowledge that by hiding behind the Fifth Amendment in a recent court hearing he has wounded the First Amendment, the foundation upon which all freedoms — not just journalistic privilege — depends.

Here’s the scoop.

Mr. Gertz writes about national security for the Washington Times, Fox News and other news outlets. Lately he has been covering industrial and political espionage from Communist China. As an American reporter who has studied the Chinese language I echo his concerns. But Mr. Gertz has used the wrong methods to cover the right issue. As news articles reveal, he is alleged to have received stolen intellectual property when he quoted anonymous leakers involved in a federal grand jury investigation. It is crime for anyone connected with a federal grand jury to reveal anything about its proceedings. This to prevent the Grand Jury from being turned into a witch-hunt and to protect those innocently accused from having their names dragged through the mud.

To be perfectly frank there are no innocents in this case. In fact the person who wants Mr. Gertz to name his anonymous Grand Jury source is convicted spy Tai Wang Mak. Mak was recently sentenced to 24 years in prison after being found guilty. Now this, ahem, dirtbag is demanding that the judiciary investigate why a supposedly-secret legal process leaks like a political campaign. Material this rich could be a Hollywood movie!

But here’s an unfunny fact: in the United States even dirtbags have rights and even crime-fighters must follow the rules. Indeed, one of the best precedents regarding the rights of criminals was set by Sheriff Andy Griffith of Mayberry, whose integrity and home-spun wisdom made his 1960s TV series so enormously popular.

Below I cite a few lines from a show that aired on October 30, 1967, in which Andy scolds his son, Opie (played by actor-turned-producer Ron Howard) for secretly recording a suspect talking with his lawyer. We join the action as Andy takes away the tape recorder after telling Opie he can’t listen to this illegally-obtained information.

  • Opie: Pa, you’re erasing the tape.
  • Andy: That’s what I mean to do. You bugged a conversation between a lawyer and his client. Now that’s violating one of the most sacred rights of privilege.
  • Opie: But, Pa!
  • Andy: No buts.
  • Opie: But if it it helps the law . . .
  • Andy: Opie, the law can’t use this kind of help because whether a man is guilty or not we have to find that out by due process of law.
  • (Here is a fair use copy of the clip so you can check my transcription: andy_griffith-1)

Now Andy and Opie weren’t dealing with national security. And it may be that people accused of crimes against the nation-state do not or should not have the same rights as the ordinary thugs who might rob, rape or kill Americans.

Mr. Gertz naturally has his own views of this GrandJuryGate. They are laid out in  an affidavit explaining why he should not have to reveal who whispers things in his ear. He calls himself an investigative journalist, which is like the reporter’s equivalent of a SWAT team.

But correct me if I am wrong but there the just five elements to journalism — who, what, when, where and why. If Mr. Gertz leaves out the “who” than he he does just 80 percent of the job, not the 110 percent we’d expect from an investigative reporter. Even giving him credit for 80 percent is generous. Journalists deserve a failing grade when they use anonymous sources because they deprive Americans of the most important tool for evaluating any statement — who said it?

On the other hand, let’s not make too much out of the fact that when Mr. Gertz was hauled into court recently — at the insistence of the dirtbag’s lawyers — he pled the Fifth. The Constitution gives all American, even reporters, the right to avoid self-incrimination. I would no more cast aspersions on Mr. Gertz for invoking that right than I would fault those who were called before the House UnAmerican Activities Committee during the late 1940s and early 1950s for refusing to incriminate themselves when asked whether they were communists or fellow travelers. 

But Mr. Gertz has created an ambiguous situation that reflects badly on professional journalism. For one thing his refusal to back up his work could make people wonder whether he is like  Jayson Blair, the lying liar who wrote fiction, not journalism, for the New York Times.

Furthermore, Mr. Gertz’s posture in this case suggests an “ends justify the means” approach more consistent with communism than with the American values of Andy of Mayberry.

 I do not know whether Mr. Gertz makes stuff up and I rather doubt that he is a communist, but to remove any ambiguity he should march back into court and say: Your Honor, breaking the story of Chinese espionage and my keeping my word are both so important that I insist on being jailed. And than he should fold his arms in stoic silence. Otherwise, people might think him a coward and a liar who expects the Justice Department and the judiciary to bend the law to aid his gossip-mongering.

No $$$ for populi who put the vox in Huff Post?

tn_freejoshwolf.jpg Josh Wolf media-blogging for CNet

Josh Wolf spent 226 days in jail for refusing to turn over unaired video of a protest in San Francisco. I blogged about his case for weeks and met him after his release at a Media Alliance event. Now I notice that he is doing media commentary and social activism for for CNet.

One of Wolf’s recent blog posts takes the Huffington Post to task for getting a big infusion of venture cash while insisting that it will not pay the roughly 1,800 guest bloggers who supplement the efforts of 43-paid staff. He writes:

“The Huffington Post is clearly earning a significant amount of money from advertising and is well on its way toward becoming a profitable company. I understand that the company couldn’t afford to pay its bloggers when the site first launched. I can even understand why it might not be possible today, but I find (CEO Ken) Lerer’s commitment to never pay the bloggers at the Post disconcerting. These talented writers have helped make the Huffington Post into the economic success it is quickly becoming, and to suggest that they should never share in that success seems shameful.”

I agree but now we need software systems to track the contributions that writers make to larger enterprises so they can get paid some share of the revenues that come in. That would create the option at least to reward contributors. Right now it’s not easy and therefore it’s not standard. Anyhow, nice to see Wolf on the media beat.  

Josh Wolf freed after 226 days!

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Freelance journalist and anarchist Josh Wolf refused to turn over videotapes of a protest being investigated by a federal grand jury and had been held for 226 days. For the past four months I’ve written something about his case every Friday — until last week when he was released was I was traveling and out of touch. Thanks for your patience with this crusade, and thanks to Josh for contesting a federal court order that, had it been copied elsewhere, would have turned any person with a cameraphone into a prosecutor’s eyes and ears. Tom Abate aka MiniMediaGuy.

This article contains statements from Josh, and his lawyer, David Greene, on the day of Josh’s release from a federal prison in Dublin, California. Said Josh:

“Today, I posted the video footage to my web site www.joshwolf.net/ so that the public will have the opportunity to see that there is nothing of value in this unpublished footage. As there is no sensitive material on the tape, there was no reason to remain in prison, given the fact that I got what I wanted from day one – the right to protect journalists from having to testify before a grand jury.”

Greene, executive director of the First Amendment Project, was succint:

“Today, Josh got what he wanted from day one — he will not have to testify before the grand jury about the events at the protest or the identities of participants.”

I’m just getting back into the work flow so I won’t have more to say except to thank the many other bloggers who supported Josh (I got a note from Cody Molica who has blogged about Josh’s case extensively.)

Finally, thanks to new U.S. Attorney Steve Schools. He recently took over the office in San Francisco that had brought the case against Josh. Schools could have dragged out this overreaching investigation but he did the right thing — at last.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Online Journalism Review has written about his case; you can read more in Wikipedia.)

After 221 days, Josh Wolf’s mom says, ‘protest & pray’

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(Freelance journalist and anarchist Josh Wolf has refused to turn over videotapes of a protest being investigated by a federal grand jury. Online Journalism Review has written about his case; you can read more in Wikipedia. In December I promised to write about his case every Friday until he is freed. Spread the word. — Tom Abate aka MiniMediaGuy).

 

Josh’s mom. Liz Wolf-Spada, passed on this note:

 

“There is another attempt at mediation coming up on Monday April 2 . . . I know it meant a lot to Josh that he caught a glimose of some of you out there to support him when the prison bus arrived at the courthouse (before his prior, unsuccessful mediation). If you can be there again, I think he got there between 8 and 9.

“For those of you who pray or have a spiritual practice please hold Josh up in your minds in a good way; let’s do that. Don’t forget to also keep his attorneys, the magistrate Judge Spero and the U.S. attorneys in your prayers, for an outcome that will be satisfactory for all and allow Josh to be released from prison while he continues to protect the rights of others who exercised free speech at the protest.”

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Josh Wolf wins award; would probably prefer his fredom after 214 days in jail

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(Freelance journalist and anarchist Josh Wolf has refused to turn over videotapes of a protest being investigated by a federal grand jury. Online Journalism Review has written about his case; you can read more in Wikipedia. In December I promised to write about his case every Friday until he is freed. Spread the word. – Tom Abate aka MiniMediaGuy).

American Journalism Review has published a lovely portrait of Josh Wolf and his mother, Liz Wolf Spada, who is described as “an elementary school teacher with cropped gray hair who speaks in the earnest, optimistic tones of someone who spends a lot of time with young children.”

The AJR article, written by Dana Hull, a San Jose Mercury News reporter, concludes with a phone interview (prison officials would not allow a face to face visit):

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At day 207: will new U.S. attorney Steve Schools give Josh Wolf a “get-out-of-jail” card?

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(Freelance journalist and anarchist Josh Wolf has refused to turn over videotapes of a protest being investigated by a federal grand jury. Online Journalism Review has written about his case; you can read more in Wikipedia. In December I promised to write about his case every Friday until he is freed. Spread the word. – Tom Abate aka MiniMediaGuy).

Last week hopes rose and fell after a court-ordered mediation failed to find a face-saving way for Josh to win his freedom. Supporters are now being urged to write to a newly-appointed federal prosecutor to give the case another look. Some folks have promised to hold vigils outside the federal court building in San Francisco where his jailers work.

Please click through for details. It’s time to end the most misguided act of prosecutorial zeal since Javert made Jean Valjean miserable for stealing a loaf of French bread.

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At day 200: will mediation free Josh Wolf?

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(Freelance journalist and anarchist Josh Wolf has refused to turn over videotapes of a protest being investigated by a federal grand jury. Online Journalism Review has written about his case; you can read more in Wikipedia. In December I promised to write about his case every Friday until he is freed. Spread the word. – Tom Abate aka MiniMediaGuy).

Keep your fingers crossed. Josh Wolf was to have started a mediation Thursday. I may be a bit out of the loop on the outcome as I am attending a conference (New Communications Forum) and preoccupied with that. But after 200 days this process stikes me as an encouraging sign that the government is seeking a way to let Josh free without losing face.

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