Benjamin Lammers

Activists in journalism and mass media spoke to Ohio State students Thursday about the need for public involvement in the press.

Freelance journalist and videographer Josh Wolf, Hannah Sassaman of the Prometheus Radio Project and OSU Assistant Professor and activist Pranav Jani held a round-table discussion with students.

Wolf was held in a Federal Detention Center for nearly eight months after refusing to testify to a federal grand jury about a video he filmed of a protest. The 2005 anti-G8 summit protest resulted in an injured police officer and minor damage to a police vehicle.

Wolf's case brought about a national dialogue on freedom of the press and the legal definition of journalism, however, he said his qualification as a journalist were never part of the legal argument made against him. He said independent journalists and bloggers are protected by California shield laws for journalists, but not under federal law.

Wolf said prosecutors are using terrorism as a way to circumvent shield laws and to deputize the media as investigators for the federal government. He said the federal crime they were investigating was an alleged attempted arson of a police vehicle. Any damage to property of a state agency that received federal funding falls under federal jurisdiction and can be prosecuted under the Patriot Act as part of a joint terrorism task force.

He said his testimony was more important than video, and that prosecutors wanted to locate potential witnesses rather than prosecute any actual crime seen on his documentary.

Wolf said that freedom of silence and right to privacy should be just as important as freedom of speech. He said he was a victim of the use of "coercive custody," where a witness is held indefinitely "until you do what they want."

"It was basically a McCarthyist witch-hunt," Wolf said. "Coercion should not exist in a free society."

He said to preserve a free press it is necessary to have a federal shield law to protect journalists.

Jani said after Sept. 11 there has been a politically motivated attack on academics in the U.S.

"There is a war of ideas that corresponds with the war on terrorism," Jani said.

Objectivity vs. transparency

Wolf said news organizations often portray themselves as objective, when in reality it is more important to move toward transparency. He said challenging ownership is the first step to tackle content-oriented restrictions on free speech so mainstream media cannot editorialize the news to their vision.

Jani said the story of American journalism is unfortunately rooted in profit, and this profit results in the control of ideas in the media.

"Democracy is meaningless if the public isn't getting accurate information," Jani said.

Sassaman said the mass media tell stories that marginalize the independent media.

"NPR (National Public Radio) is comforting for the comfortable, independent radio is comforting for the uncomfortable," she said.

Sassaman works with the Prometheus Radio Project to build community radio stations based on low power, short-range FM.

Sassaman explained the importance of the Local Community Radio Act of 2007. It will decrease the consolidation of ownership in the radio industry by granting additional lower power FM licenses to "enhance locally focused community-oriented radio broadcasting," according to the House bill.

Sassaman said low power FM is better prepared to inform people during natural disasters like hurricanes. She said the Prometheus Radio Project is one group in a larger movement for social justice.