Sneaky Salamander

Journalist and video blogger, Josh Wolf, finally found himself a free man February 14th of 2007 (Valentines Day). Wolf was incarcerated a record 226 days for Journalists nationwide when he refused to turn over his footage and testify before a Grand Jury in August.  Wolf spoke at the University of San Francisco as a reminder to others of a serious flaw in the Federal Government’s system.  Reflectively, he said, “The system is engineered for you, the accused, to fail.  So there really is no fair justice in the federal system.”

Although for the most part objective, the Wolf’s reporting shows some opinion. In light of this seemingly insignificant personalization of his blog, he has been brought under the scrutiny of news sources nationally not only for his time in jail but also for what seems a silly question, “Is Josh Wolf a reporter?”

Wait… hold up, lets back track. Josh Wolf was incarcerated for 7 ½ months  and FOR WHAT?  Wolf would not give up any sources, names or take part in an entirely controlled court hearing that would go unrecorded and essentially jeopardize any credibility he has. Is he a journalist? Wolf has certainly acted as one although he may not gain recognition for it, his credibility remains intact and sources uncompromised. But shouldn’t the question addressed be why was Josh Wolf locked up, not “is he a journalist”?

What lured this inquiring Wolf into such a predicament in the first place… The answer is Mainstream Media’s weak and biased coverage on protests throughout San Francisco. In March of 2003 you may recall the global stand against the war, if you were not in San Francisco at the time, you should know that on that day, Market Street was transformed into a verifiable anthill of activity raging against a war that seemed unjust and deadly.

Mainstream Media chose to report mainly on the “rude atrocities” of protestors and unknowingly spurned into action the blogger/journalist/activist Josh Wolf. Ah yes, the revolution will be televised, and the probing public- informed.

At the end of the day, the coverage given his story left Wolf dissatisfied, “The debate was only whether or not I qualified as a journalist, and whether I could be protected under laws that don’t even exist.”  What should have been addressed more fully was “About how we can protect the free flow of information, how we can continue to insure that the process of a free press guarantee that the first amendments of our constitution aren’t taken away from us,” said Wolf.