Amy Goodman, fresh out of jail, had some interesting things to say on Air America's "Left Jab" the other day. Worth repeating.
The St. Paul police department had embedded journalists for the duration of the Republican National Convention. Embedded journalists! From Fox! Surprise!
It was the independent and more intrepid journos who got arrested and beaten. Goodman got some odd questions from a few fellow journalists on the floor of the convention about her coverage of what was going on outside the convention. They asked her why she was outside the convention? What on earth was there to do out there? When she told them she was covering the protests, they responded, "What protests?"
Goodman said it was very comfortable for journalists inside the convention hall. No reason to leave unless you wanted to do a really good job of reporting. Inside there was lots of comp food and drink, places to relax. The big story was going on outside -- but the police were making sure it was not at all comfortable. So the rest of the press stayed in. Except Goodman and other independents and, of course, those Fox embeds. We owe Amy Goodman and colleagues.
What do we do about the mainstream journos staying inside their comfortable enclave? A little "Face on the ground!" and plastic cuffs would be a good start. We can discuss that later.
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