After Wrongful RNC Arrests, Democracy Now! Vows to Continue Reporting, Unabated and Unembedded

We need your support.

We hope you had a chance to tune in to Democracy Now!’s extended coverage of the Democratic and Republican National Conventions over the past two weeks. We grilled politicians with tough questions and exposed the backroom corporate suites. We deployed our reporters into the protest-filled streets to broadcast voices of the silenced majority.

And, we came head to head with the $50 million RNC security operation.

Amy Goodman Arrested at RNC

The arrests of journalists including Democracy Now!’s own Amy Goodman, Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar are chilling examples of how police targeted journalists during the RNC in St. Paul. As you probably know, Amy was charged with a misdemeanor for intervening to stop the wrongful arrests of her colleagues. They faced pending felony charges for simply carrying out their journalistic duties. Ultimately, all of these charges were dropped.

The world watched as the Twin Cities Police trampled the first amendment. The YouTube video of Amy’s arrest has been viewed more than 830,000 times. It was the most watched YouTube video during the convention week. The story of journalist arrests and charges was covered by media outlets from the LA Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe, San Francisco Guardian, Philadelphia Daily News, Denver Post, Associated Press, Editor & Publisher, Salon.com, as well as by local and public radio stations, and by political and news bloggers around the world.

Nicole Salazar Films Her Own Arrest at RNC

At this time when reporters are being targeted, we rely on your support to continue our unembedded, independent journalism. More than ever, you are the key to protecting our first amendment right to a free and independent press.

As an ally of independent media, you know that government crackdowns on journalists are a true threat to democracy. We know that too. That’s why we refused to let these significant disruptions prevent us from bringing you the kind of the news and information that you expect from Democracy Now! From the streets to the suites to the convention floor, we worked around the clock to broadcast independent, unembedded reporting you can’t find anywhere else.

The public cried out against the flagrant disregard for press freedom demonstrated by Twin Cities police. Freepress.net delivered over 60,000 signatures to local officials demanding the charges be dropped. Thanks to many of you, St. Paul officials received tens of thousands of email messages and phone calls demanding that they drop all pending and current charges. It worked.

On Friday September 19, two weeks after the convention ended, The St. Paul City Attorney’s office announced it will not prosecute Democracy Now! journalists Amy Goodman, Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar. St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman also issued a statement Friday that “the city will decline to prosecute misdemeanor charges for presence at an unlawful assembly for journalists arrested during the Republican National Convention (see press release).

Now, we ask for your financial support. After all, donations from thousands of committed viewers and listeners like you are what keeps us independent. Please help keep this critical program on the air. Without you, there would be no Democracy Now!.

Thank you for your continued support.

Democracy Now!

PS–Please forward this appeal to anyone you know who believes democracy depends on a vibrant and free press.

Donate to Democracy Now!
Video of DN! Arrests & Action Alert
Media Coverage of Journalist Arrests at RNC