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Drop the Charges Against Amy Goodman and Other Journalists Covering #NoDAPL
Sep 16, 2016
The images are shocking: security guards, armed with dogs and pepper spray, attacking peaceful Native Americans marching against the Dakota Access Pipeline. The footage from Democracy Now! is a brutal reminder that those in power will do anything to stop people from standing against injustice.
The pipeline has faced strong resistance from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and members of 280 other tribes in the United States and Canada, not to mention countless other groups working in solidarity. But local authorities want to silence the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's brave fight to prevent the pipeline's construction through its sacred land.
That's why on Sept. 8, North Dakota's Morton County issued an arrest warrant for Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman on the charge of trespassing -- a move intended to chill reporting.
And we know how important it is to be able to tell the story of what's happening on the ground: The Obama administration put a temporary halt on a portion of the project, in part thanks to coverage from Goodman and indigenous media outlets like Indian Country Today. Goodman's report was viewed more than 13 million times on the Democracy Now! Facebook page and CBS, CNN, NBC and NPR were among the outlets that carried the footage.
And Goodman isn't the only reporter Morton County authorities have targeted: Most recently two journalists from independent news outlet Unicorn Riot were arrested on trespass charges while filming the militarized response to protesters.
If the authorities in Morton County and the company seeking to build the Dakota Access Pipeline had their way, the world wouldn't see their horrific acts or their total disregard for the land and water rights of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. Morton County's actions are designed to intimidate journalists and to silence the indigenous coalition that has stepped up to safeguard access to clean water.
Journalism isn't a crime, and authorities in Morton County shouldn't silence reporters who are trying to do their jobs and amplify the voices of this movement. Urge Morton County to drop the charges against Goodman, Unicorn Riot and everyone exercising their First Amendment rights to report on this story.
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Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
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Mike Rispoli
Mike Rispoli is the senior director of journalism policy at Free Press. He is co-author, with Amy Kroin and Kevin Davis, of the case study New Jersey's Civic Information Bill: The Story of the Campaign to Transform Local Media.
The images are shocking: security guards, armed with dogs and pepper spray, attacking peaceful Native Americans marching against the Dakota Access Pipeline. The footage from Democracy Now! is a brutal reminder that those in power will do anything to stop people from standing against injustice.
The pipeline has faced strong resistance from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and members of 280 other tribes in the United States and Canada, not to mention countless other groups working in solidarity. But local authorities want to silence the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's brave fight to prevent the pipeline's construction through its sacred land.
That's why on Sept. 8, North Dakota's Morton County issued an arrest warrant for Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman on the charge of trespassing -- a move intended to chill reporting.
And we know how important it is to be able to tell the story of what's happening on the ground: The Obama administration put a temporary halt on a portion of the project, in part thanks to coverage from Goodman and indigenous media outlets like Indian Country Today. Goodman's report was viewed more than 13 million times on the Democracy Now! Facebook page and CBS, CNN, NBC and NPR were among the outlets that carried the footage.
And Goodman isn't the only reporter Morton County authorities have targeted: Most recently two journalists from independent news outlet Unicorn Riot were arrested on trespass charges while filming the militarized response to protesters.
If the authorities in Morton County and the company seeking to build the Dakota Access Pipeline had their way, the world wouldn't see their horrific acts or their total disregard for the land and water rights of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. Morton County's actions are designed to intimidate journalists and to silence the indigenous coalition that has stepped up to safeguard access to clean water.
Journalism isn't a crime, and authorities in Morton County shouldn't silence reporters who are trying to do their jobs and amplify the voices of this movement. Urge Morton County to drop the charges against Goodman, Unicorn Riot and everyone exercising their First Amendment rights to report on this story.
Mike Rispoli
Mike Rispoli is the senior director of journalism policy at Free Press. He is co-author, with Amy Kroin and Kevin Davis, of the case study New Jersey's Civic Information Bill: The Story of the Campaign to Transform Local Media.
The images are shocking: security guards, armed with dogs and pepper spray, attacking peaceful Native Americans marching against the Dakota Access Pipeline. The footage from Democracy Now! is a brutal reminder that those in power will do anything to stop people from standing against injustice.
The pipeline has faced strong resistance from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and members of 280 other tribes in the United States and Canada, not to mention countless other groups working in solidarity. But local authorities want to silence the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's brave fight to prevent the pipeline's construction through its sacred land.
That's why on Sept. 8, North Dakota's Morton County issued an arrest warrant for Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman on the charge of trespassing -- a move intended to chill reporting.
And we know how important it is to be able to tell the story of what's happening on the ground: The Obama administration put a temporary halt on a portion of the project, in part thanks to coverage from Goodman and indigenous media outlets like Indian Country Today. Goodman's report was viewed more than 13 million times on the Democracy Now! Facebook page and CBS, CNN, NBC and NPR were among the outlets that carried the footage.
And Goodman isn't the only reporter Morton County authorities have targeted: Most recently two journalists from independent news outlet Unicorn Riot were arrested on trespass charges while filming the militarized response to protesters.
If the authorities in Morton County and the company seeking to build the Dakota Access Pipeline had their way, the world wouldn't see their horrific acts or their total disregard for the land and water rights of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. Morton County's actions are designed to intimidate journalists and to silence the indigenous coalition that has stepped up to safeguard access to clean water.
Journalism isn't a crime, and authorities in Morton County shouldn't silence reporters who are trying to do their jobs and amplify the voices of this movement. Urge Morton County to drop the charges against Goodman, Unicorn Riot and everyone exercising their First Amendment rights to report on this story.
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