Journalists: Stand Up for a Free Press

Defend The Press is a coalition that believes journalists should not be forced to participate in government prosecutions — especially prosecutions seeking to criminalize political speech. The coalition is made up of organizations, journalists, and individuals from across the political spectrum that are working together to defend Sarah Olson and journalists like her that need more protections in this new age of media.

The coalition wants to help Sarah Olson get the military subpoena dismissed, and to secure more protections for journalists in this new age of media. Please take a moment to read our letter of support for Sarah Olson (see below). We would be honored to have you, and/or your organization, newspaper, journal, website, or blog, join this growing movement to guarantee the separation between press and state.

Thank you,
Scott Goodstein & John Stauber,
Defend the Press Coalition / Center for Media and Democracy

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Statement of Support for Sarah Olson

We, the undersigned journalists, academics, artists and citizens, object to the Army's decision to subpoena independent journalist and radio producer Sarah Olson, and Honolulu Star-Bulletin reporter Greg Kakesako, to testify in the court-martial of 1st Lt. Ehren Watada, the first officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq. We are further disturbed by the Army's decision to add independent journalist Dahr Jamail and videographer Sari Gelzer to the prosecution's witness list.

It is a journalist's job to report the news, not to participate in government prosecutions. The press cannot function if it is used by the government to prosecute political speech. Hauling a journalist into a military court erodes the separation between government and press. Turning reporters into the investigative arm of the government subverts press freedoms, and chills dissenting speech in the United States. The press must preserve its ability to cover all aspects of a debate, not just the perspectives popular with the current administration. We believe a journalist's duty is to the public and its right to know — not to the government.

In the name of the cornerstone values this nation claims to uphold and for which the men and women in the military are fighting, we ask that you put an end to your insistence that journalists participate in the court-martial of Lt. Watada. We need more information, participation, and debate — not less. As the Los Angeles Times argued in its January 8 editorial: "It's time for the Army to back off."