By Dr. Deborah Bailey
AFRO Contributing Editor
The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) teamed up with veteran journalist Roland Martin, founder of Black Star Network, to host a two-hour, live-streamed event on Feb. 2 titled “Not On Our Watch: A National Town Hall on Press Freedom.”
The session was prompted by the recent arrests of independent Black journalists Don Lemon, Georgia Fort and other members of the media, who were covering the unrest created by the brutal immigration raids in Minnesota.
Martin, currently a vice president of NABJ, co-hosted the virtual national town hall with Errin Haines, NABJ president. With several hundred NABJ members in attendance, the audience heard from Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and representatives from several of the national organizations who co-signed a Jan. 30 statement issued by NABJ.
The Jan. 30 letter expresses unequivocal support for the First Amendment, and the ability to do their jobs as journalists–even when questionable governmental actions are exposed.
“This moment is bigger than two journalists. It is about whether the First Amendment has meaning when reporting is inconvenient to those in power. The selective targeting of journalists— especially, Black and LGBTQIA journalists— raises urgent concerns about unequal enforcement and retaliatory policing of the press,” stated the letter.
Martin set the tone for the discussion, stating that the country’s “media institutions are really seen as the enemy of this administration,” he said.
Haines agreed with the sentiment.
“Journalists–particularly Black journalists–are facing escalating threats simply for doing our jobs,” she said. “Press freedom is not just a professional perk; it is a democratic infrastructure. When it is weakened, democracy itself is at risk.”
Lemon was in Los Angeles when he was arrested on Jan. 29. Fort was arrested at her home in Minneapolis on Jan. 30. Jerome Deangelo Richardson, a student journalist from Temple University and assistant to Lemon, was also named in a federal indictment. He turned himself in based on the federal indictment issued Jan. 29.
Multiple activists have been arrested for the “good trouble” made inside of Cities Church on Jan. 18, but Lemon, Fort and Richardson are Black independent journalists.
“Just when you think you’ve seen it all from this administration, you see something like this,” said Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, referring to the arrests of Lemon, Fort and the others. “How is it in Minnesota–a state that is overwhelmingly White– you get two Black journalists arrested, and in total, there were four.”
Bass said she worries about all Black journalists, but especially freelancers who may not have the support and backing of a major news organization.
Representatives from the Society of Professional Journalists, Freedom of the Press Foundation, International Women’s Media Foundation, Committee to Protect Journalists and a host of other organizations offered support and echoed concern about the disproportionate threat faced by Black journalists reporting on controversial government issues.
Rashaud Robinson, representing the Committee for the First Amendment, appealed to the general public to speak up against violations of free speech and warned the audience that life in America has already become more repressive and restrictive.
“It’s our responsibility to not just be passive observers, but to do things in our own spaces and places to…hold the institutions accountable that we may give our money to or be engaged with,” Robinson said, calling on Black Americans to get involved in opposing the violent immigration enforcement tactics being used and free speech violations taking place.
Martin spoke to the case against Temple University senior Jerome DeAngelo Richardson, who was targeted for arrest for assisting Lemon in Minnesota. Richardson has expressed both pride in the reporting from Minnesota and concerns about his future.
“With an indictment looming, I fear for my safety and the threat of public doxing,” the student journalist said in an online appeal. “I ask that you support three actions: pray for my safety and peace of mind; do not stop fighting against this oppressive system, and please support my legal defense fund because I am in dire need of your financial support, emotional support, as well as prayers.”
In a separate statement issued February 2, Ben Chavis, President of the National Newspapers Publishers Association, representing more than 200 Black newspapers, condemned the federal arrests of Black journalists.”We, the NNPA, stand with Georgia Fort, Don Lemon, and all those arrested,” said Chavis. “We demand these charges be dropped immediately. We close with Du Bois’s eternal warning: “If the government thinks it can silence our complaints, it is making a mistake.” And we shall not be moved.”