Opinion — Wolf as Underdog: Indy Media Journalist Needs Protection

Jailed journalist Josh Wolf has remained in prison so long because he lacks the backing of a large media organization that could agitate to protect his rights — so Congress should step in.

Josh Wolf, videographer and blogger, is now the journalist imprisoned longest in U.S. history for refusing to comply with a subpoena. He has been locked up in federal prison for close to six months. […]

In a recent court filing, U.S. Attorney Kevin Ryan says it’s only in Wolf’s “imagination that he is a journalist.”

The Society of Professional Journalists must be equally imaginative. Their Northern California chapter named Josh Wolf Journalist of the Year for 2006, and in March will give him the James Madison Freedom of Information Award. “Josh’s commitment to a free and unfettered press deserves profound respect,” SPJ National President Christine Tatum said.

The SPJ is also honoring San Francisco Chronicle reporters Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams, who are facing prison for refusing to reveal who leaked grand-jury testimony about steroid use in baseball. Williams and Fainaru-Wada remain free pending appeal.

The problem for Wolf? Independence. As Wolf observes, there is “definitely a divergence between how the government’s handled my situation as an independent journalist and how they’ve dealt with the corporate media, which have also been found in civil contempt.”

The First Amendment states: “Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom … of the press.” By forcing journalists to hand over tapes, notes and other material, and to testify, the government is making just such a law. Whistle-blowers and others in dangerous situations will no longer come forward to provide information to reporters if they think their names will be divulged. Journalists must be free to protect their sources and to report the truth if our democracy is to function.