Democracy Now! interview with Elliot Madison, the New York City social worker who was arrested for tweeting the location of police actions during the G-20 riots in Pittsburgh last month. (28:23)
This is some must-see TV if there ever was such a thing, but don’t expect to see this interview on any of the mainstream media networks. They are (almost completely) ignoring the story [CNN (the singular hit)- Fox News – MSNBC – ABC News – CBS News]. This compares to those same news organizations cacophonous coverage of the Iranian “twitter” uprising this summer [CNN – Fox News – MSNBC – ABC News – CBS News]. Again I ask, if it is good enough for Iranians, why isn’t it good enough for Americans?
You can watch today’s full episode of Democracy Now!, as always, in the right sidebar. For those of you that want to see with just how much ease our government can swoop into your home, steal your possessions and detain you in your underwear, here are Mr. Madison’s motion (PDF) and his lawyer’s supporting declaration (PDF), courtesy of the Electronic Frontier Foundation; attached to the declaration are copies of the search warrant, an inventory of the seized items, and the original criminal complaint.
If you think this story doesn’t concern you, think again.
Deep, cleansing breaths
Oct 1
Posted by Patrick T. Lafferty in sundry | Comments off
After the disgust of the Pittsburgh police state, I had to take a step back for a couple days and catch my breath. I’ve been camped out over at Digital Newsgathering, my good friend Girl Journalist‘s Journalism 226 class at San Francisco State University. I’m a com/mentor for the students’ blogs. So far, so good. Feel free to follow the development of these burgeoning journalists (the student blogs are listed in the blogroll at the main site).
You also may have noticed the enhancements I’ve made around here over the past week or so (thanks for putting up with any loose code you may have seen laying around while visiting the site). I moved the mantras up in the sidebar, added a “Feature” section to highlight critical issues/stories, created a permanent place for viewing each new daily episode of Democracy Now! and added a bigger “Subscribe” button to the header (and a social “gutter” under each post). I’m very pleased with how it all came together, but let me know what you think in the comments section.
We now resume our regular blogging schedule.
Tags: burgeoning journalists, com/mentor, Digital Newsgathering, G20, Girl Journalist, Journalism 226, Pittsburgh Police State, San Francisco State University