Defend The Press! Urgent Action Needed
John Stauber for Defend The Press
The Center for Media and Democracy (www.prwatch.org) today launched Defend The
Press, a new coalition of journalists, public interest groups, academics and
citizen activists. Defend The Press is asking the US Army to drop its
subpoena of Sarah Olson, an independent print and radio journalist based in
Oakland, California, in the court martial of Iraq war resister Lieutenant
Ehren Watada. Olson interviewed Watada in May 2006, and in June he announced
he would not go to war in Iraq, challenging its legality. Watada's Army
court martial begins February 5, 2007, at Fort Lewis, Washington.
Sarah needs your help. Visit the Defend The Press website at
www.DefendthePress.org to support her!
Sarah Olson has been served with a subpoena from the President of the United
States requiring her to be a prosecution witness against Lieutenant Watada.
The subpoena states "failure to appear may result in your being taken into
custody and brought before the court martial." Olson risks felony charges,
jail and a fine if she fails to cooperate.
Sarah Olson recently wrote in an editorial column, "I stand firmly by a
conviction I share with many: a member of the press should never be placed in
the position of aiding a government prosecution of political speech. This goes
against the grain of even the most basic understanding of the First
Amendment's free press guarantees and the expectation of a democracy that
relies on a free flow of information and perspectives without fear of censure
or retribution."
Defend The Press believes journalists should not be forced to participate in
government prosecutions especially prosecutions seeking to criminalize
political speech. Defend The Press supports Sarah Olson and journalists like
her; independent journalists especially need stronger protection of their
rights in the age of the Internet.
If you are outraged by this attack on freedom of the press, get involved!
Visit the Defend The Press website at www.DefendthePress.org to join the
campaign!
Among the dozens of noted journalists and authors participating in Defend The
Press are Noam Chomsky, Phil Donahue, Daniel Ellsberg, Barbara Ehrenreich,
Diane Farsetta, Laura Flanders, Robert McChesney, Greg Palast, Sheldon Rampton
and Howard Zinn. Read what they are saying at
www.prwatch.org/defendthepress/supporters.html.
Defend The Press was founded by the non-profit Center for Media and Democracy
of Madison, Wisconsin, and by Free Press Working Group (www.freepresswg.org)
of Oakland, California, in the belief that the press cannot function if it is
used by the government to prosecute political speech. Turning reporters into
the investigative arm of the government subverts press freedoms, and chills
dissenting speech in the United States.
If you believe that journalists should serve the public, not government
agendas, visit the Defend The Press website at www.DefendthePress.org to make
your voice heard!
For more information, visit the Defend The Press website at
www.DefendthePress.org, or contact the Center for Media and Democracy by email
at editor AT prwatch.org, or by phone at 608-260-9713.
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