The Republican version of democracy

from Muttering Jam:

Courtesy of Free Press.net:

St. Paul Mayor and Media Mum on Journalism CrackdownIn St. Paul this week, a new generation of media makers is under assault by the city’s mayor and law enforcement officers. These leaders think free speech is a privilege that extends only to their closest allies in the mainstream media. For the rest of us, it’s a crime.

– Timothy Karr, Huffington Post

Two Student Journalists and their Photo Adviser Arrested at RNCTwo University of Kentucky journalism students and their photo adviser were arrested at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., on charges of felony rioting. They were photographing a protest of the convention.

– Ali Cicerchi and Jill Laster, Kentucky Kernel

PepperSpray Videographers Arrested in St. PaulTwo PepperSpray collective members, Lambert Rochfort and Joe LaSac were arrested while on assignment in St. Paul covering the protests associated with the Republican National Convention. Both are still being held without charges or an opportunity to go before a judge.

– Reclaim the Media

Four Arrested Covering Protest at GOP ConventionA camera crew, broadcast host, and photographer were among those arrested while covering protests at the Republican National Convention in St Paul, Minnesota. Two had their press passes for the convention confiscated by the Secret Service.

– Committee to Protect Journalists

NAHJ Denounces Arrests of Working PressThe National Association of Hispanic Journalists is calling on police and local and federal officials to respect the First Amendment right to free speech and free press of journalists doing their job, especially as it relates to coverage of recent political conventions and the surrounding public protests.

– National Association of Hispanic Journalists

ACLU Calls for Investigation into Raids and Mass Arrests at RNCConducting mass arrests and raiding meeting places of innocent Americans exercising their constitutional right to express political dissent are antithetical to the fundamental values of our democracy. Free speech has to be safeguarded during the Republican National Convention.

– American Civil Liberties Union

Drop Charges Against Journalists Arrested at GOP Convention, Media Group DemandsFree Press — the national, nonpartisan media reform group — called for St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman and local law-enforcement officials to drop all charges against all journalists arrested while covering protests outside the Republican National Convention.

– Dave Astor, Editor & Publisher

Citizen Journalists Converge on Party ConventionsWith new technologies that make it easy to share blog posts, video and audio, citizen journalism has taken media coverage of the political conventions into their own hands.

–Stephanie Condon, CNet

Posted by Avram Mirsky at 10:56 PM