News for a New Generation

One week ago, at the invitation of members of the media studies faculty at my school, the University of San Francisco, vlogger Josh Wolf came to speak about his recent release from federal detention. Wolf, who at an unbelievable 226 days, holds the record for a journalist incarcerated for not revealing his sources. Wolf blogs at www.joshwolf.net, where he continued to post through intermediaries during his seven month stint in prison.

Wolf’s harrowing story started on July 5, 2005, when he filmed an anti-G8 anarchist demonstration in San Francisco. The FBI sought the tape in what they called an effort to identify those responsible for damaging a police car during the protest. Although Wolf repeatedly assured investigators that he did not capture the event, and would turn over the tape if requested, he refused to testify about the identities of any of the anarchists involved. Wolf said that as a journalist, he had to protect his sources, and would be unable to do his job if future sources withheld information for fear that their names would be revealed to the authorities.

This act of defiance would be protected under California’s shield laws, as it would in most states in the union. The difference was that Wolf was under federal subpoena, where no such shield law exists. Ironically, the same federal government that seeks to protect reporters through the first amendment has not seen fit to actually enshrine those protections in the form of a shield law protecting a reporter’s right to confidential sources, a key aspect of what it means to be a journalist.

Wolf said the reason he got involved in vlogging in the first place was to present a side of the protest movement that few in the mainstream media were willing to tackle. He said he was dismayed by a constant misreporting on the part of the media establishment when it came to protests in his native San Francisco, and what he perceived as a bias against protesters. Therefore, instead of sitting on the sidelines, he used the tools of the new digital journalism revolution to take to the streets and document what he saw.

“Why not tell the other side of the story?” Wolf asked. “Why not bring balance to an imbalanced newscast?”

Wolf straddles the line between journalist and activist by not shying away from his own beliefs and opinions in his coverage of an event. While this may ruffle the feathers of some traditionalists in the media industry, Wolf sees it as part and parcel of who he is as a blogger.

“I can understand the concerns raised,” said Wolf. “Am I a journalist? Am I an activist? For once and all, the answer is yes.”

After the event, USF journalism student Evan Wiig remarked that Wolf captured exactly the type of integrity and tenacity that it takes to be a journalist.

“As a journalist, and as a citizen, I think that we need to protect our rights,” said Wiig.

As for whether, as an aspiring journalist, he is dissuaded from the vocation by Wolf’s ordeal, Wiig remained resolute. Still, he was guarded about whether he would be able to endure what Wolf went through.

“I really wish I could say that I would do it. I’d like to think that I would,” Wiig said. “There aren’t many things I would stand up for to that capacity, but the first amendment is something that we should.”