Another reporter, publisher arrested for publishing news

Crandall Library hosting event on `The Last American Editor, Vol. 2’

By Ken Tingley

It sounds hysterical when you say democracy is under attack.

This is America so it doesn’t sound possible.

Maybe it’s why so few of us are paying attention. Or maybe we just don’t know what to do about it.

Attacking the media with accusations of “fake news” and bias has become so commonplace, it no longer surprises or shocks us. And in too many cases, the general public believes it.

Last week, for at least the second time this year, police took action against a newspaper in violation of its First Amendment protections. That should be chilling to all of us, but I suspect few of us even heard the story reported.

A district attorney in Atmore, Alabama ordered the arrest of a reporter and his publisher at a small weekly newspaper for violating a state law that prohibits the disclosure of grand jury information. The town of 8,300 lies just north of the Florida panhandle.

But here is the thing, courts have consistently upheld the right of newspapers to publish leaks as long as the information is obtained lawfully. That appears to be the case here.

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Don Fletcher, a 69-year-old veteran reporter for the Atmore News, found a copy of a grand-jury subpoena in his mailbox. The subpoena had been served on two employees of the local school system as part of a criminal investigation into financial abuse.

Over several weeks, Fletcher confirmed the information and wrote a story that officials were investigating Escambia County Board of Education’s handling of federal Covid-19 relief funds.

Days later, the local district attorney ordered the arrest of Fletcher and his boss, co-owner and Publisher Sherry Digmon. She is 72 and is also on the board of education. Both were charged with violating the state law. If convicted of the felony, they could serve up to three years in prison.

For reporting the news.

Accurately.

As a public service.

The Wall Street Journal went on to report that the pair were taken to the county jail by police officers “they had known for years.” As a courtesy, the officers waited until they were out of public view before placing them in handcuffs. They were eventually released on $10,000 bond each.

The Journal also reported:

“The arrests shocked legal scholars and press advocates, who say it’s a violation of the First Amendment to prosecute a newspaper for reporting the news. More specifically, they argue that District Attorney Stephen M. Billy misapplied Alabama’s secrecy law, which criminalizes leaks by anyone directly involved with a grand jury — jurors, witnesses, court officials — but not news outlets that publish the information.”

How does a local district attorney not know that?

It was reported in the New York Times that the National Press Club, a professional organization for journalists, has called on the local authorities to drop the charges.

“Journalists in the United States have the right and the responsibility to report information of public interest to their communities,” the National Press Club said in a statement. “That is exactly what Don Fletcher and Sherry Digmon were doing when they reported and published an article on Oct. 25 regarding an investigation into a local school system’s use of federal Covid funds.”

“The First Amendment protects the right of newspapers to publish truthful speech about matters of public concern — basically categorically,” Jameel Jaffer, the executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, told the New York Times. “If the Nixon administration couldn’t imprison journalists who printed the Pentagon Papers, the Alabama D.A. can’t imprison journalists for writing stories about the Atmore, Alabama, school board.”

In 1971, a secret government report that concluded the Vietnam War was not winnable  - the Pentagon Papers - was leaked to two newspapers. The Supreme Court ruled the two newspapers could publish the information.

Why are citizens all over the state, region and country not outraged by the jailing of a 69-year-old reporter and a 72-year-old publisher with years of experience.

Kristin McCudden, a vice president of the Freedom of the Press Foundation told the Wall Street Journal the Atmore case is “alarming” because it criminalizes reporting.

McCudden pointed out it comes on the heels of an incident in Marion, Kansas where a weekly newspaper there was raided and its computer equipment seized and another incident in Ohio where an editor was charged with illegal wiretapping.

The seizure of the Kansas newspaper’s computers was later deemed illegal and the chief of police was suspended.

Kathy Kiley, a University of Missouri journalism professor, said after the Kansas raid, “Its open season on journalists.”

It is no secret that newspapers are struggling financially. Adding expensive legal bills to the equation will further hinder the ability of journalists to report the news.

The only way to save our institutions is to have a free press. We need them now more than ever. Newspapers and reporters cannot do their job if they fear being arrested.

Dec. 12 event

You are all invited to my kickoff event for my new book - The Last American Editor, Vol. 2 - on Tuesday, Dec. 12 at Crandall Public Library in Glens Falls. The event starts at 7 p.m.

We originally scheduled the event for Wednesday, but I was bumped by a Taylor Switft birthday bash. I conceded the spotlight to Taylor.

The new book continues where my first book - The Last American Editor - left off with 90 more columns chronicling the people and events that shaped Glens Falls and the surrounding regions over the past 30 years.

I’ll be presenting a slide show and telling the stories of many of those people and events.

Afterward, I will be signing books.

I hope you can make it.

Chapman events

Maureen Folk, curator at the Chapman Museum, will present a program on the life of renown Glens Falls photographer Seneca Ray Stoddard at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 13 at the Chapman Museum.

This program is free but requires a reservation. To register, please call (518)793-2826.

On Saturday, the Chapman Museum will hold its annual holiday open house (free admission). It will give you a chance to see the new Seneca Ray Stoddard exhibit as well as the holiday decorations.

The open house will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and include activities for children and refreshments.

Girard winning again

Joe Girard III, the all-time leading high school scorer from Glens Falls, must be enjoying the start of his final college season  at Clemson.

Clemson has won its first seven games, including an upset of nationally ranked Alabama where Girard scored 16 points.

It opened ACC play this weekend with a win over Pittsburgh with Girard scoring 25 points to lead the team.

Clemson plays South Carolina Wednesday evening.