Blog
Our effort in protecting reporters' First Amendment rights
- By: ASNE staff
- On: 09/25/2014 09:56:50
- In: First Amendment
National focus may have shifted away from Ferguson, Missouri, but we haven't left behind the issues involving arrests of reporters and violations of other First Amendment rights.
National focus may have shifted away from Ferguson, Missouri, but we haven't left behind the issues involving arrests of reporters and violations of other First Amendment rights.
ASNE was one of the first media organizations to issue a statement after the arrest of two reporters in Ferguson. We are now one of 44 organizations who joined a letter -- drafted by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and sent to the Department of Justice -- that asks the DOJ to address media-related issues in its investigation of the death of Michael Brown and the events that followed.
Specifically, we ask the DOJ to:
- Include investigation of violations of press rights in the Ferguson inquiry
- Look at past practice by Ferguson police in this area
- Actively train Ferguson and other area law enforcement on media rights