Whether you agree with the Occupy movement or not, the recently reported arrests and detainment of journalists covering the Occupy Wall Street group in NYC is troubling.
The Associated Press reported today that journalists from their agency and others, including NPR, were either detained or arrested while covering the eviction of the protesters from a park in NYC.
- AP Article on the arrests, via Tulsa Channel 8: Journalists detained at NYC Occupy protests
- AP Article, via the Associated Press: Crackdowns reach epicenter of Wall Street protests
Unfortunately these aren’t the only arrests that have taken place at an occupy protest. On November 2nd, a photo journalist for the Journal Sentenal news organization was arrested while photographing police arrests at a protest in Milwaukee, WI.
In response to the latest arrests, the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) released this statement: NPPA Condemns NYPD Targeting Journalists At Occupy Wall Street
As a member of the NPPA organization, I support their condemnation of the NYC officials and their blatant disregard for freedom of the press. The arrests of professional journalists could have far reaching effects on all of us.