Steve Gilbert of Sweetness & Light eviscerates ABC News for misleading the public about a case supposedly about protecting "press freedoms." In 2005 a violent protest by anarchists resulted in a police officer being brutally attacked, and a police car vandalized. Blogger Josh Wolf filmed the demonstration, and prosecutors believe his unpublished material may help them prosecute the miscreants. For his part, Wolf refuses to turn over his videotape, and currently languishes in jail until he agrees to do so.

Brian Ross of ABC News is defending Wold. Steve comments:

This report from Brian Ross's "Blotter" perfectly illustrates the bald—faced lies that we are fed as "news" everyday by so—called journalists. The article lies about the facts of the case, and it lies by omission as well.

Just for starters:

Morillon says jailing journalists for protecting sources is becoming a "chilling trend" in the United States. "More and more journalists are being subpoenaed by federal courts, they are being forced to reveal their sources," she says. "If confidentiality of sources can't be granted, where is journalism going to go?"

What "source" is being protected here? This kid took the video himself.

Moreover, Josh Wolf is not a journalist. He is a lunatic leftwing blogger.

Wolf posted some home videos about a leftwing riot he attended on his blog site. His footage captured the brutal, near—fatal beating of a policeman. Not just the "vandalizing of a police car" as the article claims. [....]

Mr. Wolf refuses to turn over the video footage of this beating to the proper authorities, so that the perpetrator can be brought to justice as the law requires.

Instead, our hero has decided he can make more of a name for himself — and some real money — by pretending to be a journalist standing upon some imagined journalistic privilege.

In reality, however, journalists have no more rights than the rest of us. Not even Brian Ross can legally withhold evidence of a crime.

Still reporters like to trot out this fantasy of theirs in addition to their usual mendacities every chance they get. Yet, heaven forbid, when a journalist gets even the slightest injury on the job it is headline news for weeks.

Please note that ABC News, being the professional journalists they are, don't believe that their readers deserve to hear any of the actual facts of the story.

Withholding information from the public is another one of their presumed privileges.

Thomas Lifson  11 19 06