Several days ago, I was taken to task by two trusted and esteemed colleagues in the local media regarding my Facebook post expressing outrage about the arrests of journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort by the Trump administration. I had demanded that the local media at all levels—from the large, corporate operations down to the small, independent online publications—join me in my exasperation and come out strong in defense of the First Amendment.
I tagged eight local news operations in my post, including print, television and online publications. Suburban media, too. We need “all hands on deck,” I wrote in a follow-up post on the thread, in pushing back against an administration that believes and acts as if it is above the law.
Much to their credit, the editors at Flint Beat and Flintside responded to the post to offer enlightened perspectives from the trenches of running small, online publications. Each made valid points about the struggles of small, independent press. In doing so, both editors respectfully challenged me to lend a hand, or more specifically, a voice to their digital pages about what they agreed was a vital issue of time.
So, here I am. Challenge accepted.
Let me begin by clarifying the intent of my original post. Blame it on my deep frustration of the moment, but what I was really seeking was a simple acknowledgment and endorsement of the joint and unequivocal statement issued from the National Association of Black Journalists and Society of Professional Journalists that stated: “The First Amendment is not optional and journalism is not a crime.”
So, I envisioned something like “We at the [local media outlet] stand shoulder to shoulder with the NABJ and SPJ in condemning the arrests of Black journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort and the unambiguous assault of the First Amendment.”
Law enforcement targeting journalists while covering news stories is not unheard of. One noteworthy example is Dan Rather live reporting his rough removal by security guards from the floor of the tumultuous and infamous 1968 Democratic Convention.
“Take your hands off me unless you plan to arrest me!” Rather demanded, as he was being shoved forward off the floor.
An angry Walter Cronkite, witnessing the spectacle, replied, “I think we’ve got a bunch of thugs here, Dan.”
Lemon’s arrest was especially galling since the administration pressed forward after federal courts had already dismissed the bogus charges against the independent journalist for covering a protest inside a Minneapolis church. Thugs have now taken over the DOJ, it seems.
Journalism, i.e., “the press,” is the only profession mentioned in and protected by the U.S. Constitution.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press [emphasis added]; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
For me, being a reporter wasn’t so much a job as much as it felt like a calling. Moreover, I cut my teeth as a reporter during the fourth quarter, as it turned out, of the traditional newspaper industry. That is, before the collapse of local news institutions.
Still, I was fortunate to have worked with and learned from journalists at three different newspapers that had each won one or more Pulitzer Prizes for news reporting, opinion writing and photography over the years. Despite whatever personal views, political and otherwise, my colleagues may have had—and they were varied; the so-called liberal media was a myth, and, frankly, the depreciation by right-wing critics was the first salvo in the war on press freedom that we are witnessing today—we, in the newsroom, strived for objectivity, fairness and independence in reporting on the issues of the day. The editorial page was where the newspapers’ opinions were housed, by and large.
Of course, the institution wasn’t perfect—none are. However, the jobs paid well, and you could make a good living doing the important work of monitoring institutions, informing the public, holding leaders accountable and getting your facts right. And I contend, it helped to create a shared sense of reality.
Our small, independent media are doing yeoman’s work covering local issues, including Flint Beat, Flintside and East Village Magazine. Moreover, I appreciate their limitations. My call to arms was not a criticism—though I understand how it could have been interpreted as such—but a tribute to their vital role in reaching readers who do not or are unable to follow the national media as I do.
Papers of record and the watchdog role for days of yore may seem passe to a population reared increasingly on social media, content creators, click-bait, celebrity news and weather (By the way, can TV news knock it off, please, with the “black ice” nonsense? It’s ice. Roads get icy or slick during winter.)
In closing, there is the old saying that “all politics is local.” The same is true for news, and even more so today. Thus, I stand firm in my advocacy for a defense of the First Amendment, and journalists Lemon and Fort, by our local media, regardless of their size. Because what Pastor Martin Niemöller said 80 years ago is still true today:
First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me