Democracy Now! Producers Violently Arrested at RNC
Friend of Miro, Amy Goodman, host of the progressive news program Democracy Now!, was arrested yesterday at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota. Two of her producers were violently arrested before Amy rushed to the scene and was also taken in and charged. They have since been released, but none of the charges have been dropped.
The Democracy Now! producers, Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar, were violently arrested before Amy arrived. The first video is from Nicole Salazar’s camera; she screams “I’m press. Press. Press!” as she and her camera are thrown to the ground. Her nose was bloodied when she was simultaneously stepped on and dragged in a parking lot. The second video clearly shows Goodman’s arrest as she rushes to the scene and peacefully asks to speak with a commanding officer.
All three journalists have been released, but the felony and misdemeanor charges have yet to be be dropped.
You can see the above footage with detailed commentary from Amy, Nicole, and Sharif on today’s edition of Democracy Now! (Tuesday, September 2nd). I recommend subscribing to the broadcast quality version of Democracy Now!
Traditional media has largely failed to give proper attention to much of what’s happening outside the convention centers earlier in Denver and this week in St. Paul. There have been other journalists and members of the press arrested, many reports of unnecessarily abusive riot police, officers who aren’t wearing visible identification and refuse to identify themselves, mass arrests of protesters, and so on.
This disturbing lack of coverage reinforces the importance of an open online video/TV system. When the more popular (i.e. mainstream/traditional) shows are more accessible and open, it becomes far easier to integrate independent media into everyday users’ media diets. When things are more closed and less standard, viewers are far more likely to watch the majority of their online video through a single gateway — we know how bad that is for diversity and independence in media.
In the coming weeks, we’ll be talking more and more about openness in online video, what it means, and how to foster it.
PS. Good work and good luck to Amy, the DN! gang, and all the others in St. Paul who are acting as watchdogs and documenting the action. Stay safe!
Source: Get MIRO
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