Jail Time For Journalists: The Government Crackdown on Reporters

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Democracy Now! today:

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/09/15/1342254

We speak with two journalists whose fates have been closely monitored by First Amendment advocates. Freelance reporter Josh Wolf spent 30 days in jail for refusing to give authorities a video of a protest he filmed in San Francisco. Lance Williams of the San Francisco Chronicle could soon be jailed for refusing to disclose confidential sources to the government in the Barry Bonds steroid case. As we continue our broadcast from San Francisco we turn to two local journalists whose fates have been closely monitored by First Amendment advocates.

One of the journalists just spent 30 days in jail for refusing to give authorities a video of a protest he filmed here in San Francisco. The other journalist could soon be jailed for refusing to disclose confidential sources to the government.

Josh Wolf is joining me in the studio -- He is a 24-year-old freelance journalist and video blogger. Josh was jailed in August after he refused to hand over video he shot at a protest last year in San Francisco. He spent 30 days behind bars and potentially faces more time locked up. Sitting next to him is Ben Rosenfeld, one of his attorneys.

And on the phone is Lance Williams. He is a sports writer with the San Francisco Chronicle and the co-author of a groundbreaking book on steroid use in professional baseball. The book is titled: "Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO, and the Steroids Scandal that Rocked Professional Sports." Last month a federal judge ordered Williams and his co-author -- Mark Fainaru-Wada -- to reveal who leaked them grand jury testimony that revealed Barry Bonds and other baseball players had used performance-enhancing drugs.

* Josh Wolf, freelance journalist and video blogger who was jailed for refusing to give authorities footage of a 2005 protest in San Francisco. He spent 30 days behind bars. He is the first blogger to be targeted by federal authorities for not cooperating with a grand jury.
* Ben Rosenfeld, San Francisco-based civil rights attorney who is part of Josh Wolf's legal team
* Lance Williams, reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle. He is co-author of the book, "Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO, and the Steroids Scandal that Rocked Professional Sports."