FeedJosh’s Statement for the Mediation Today
Note: This was composed by Josh prior to the actual mediation which has thus far failed to result in any agreement between the US and Wolf. To the best of our knowledge no further sessions are scheduled. However the parties in the case remain under a gag order so that one might infer things are not yet over on this.
When I first came to the FDC on Aug 1 of last year, I figured that my stay would be short and my release forthcoming. I guess I was a little off in my prediction. Though I was granted a short reprieve in September, I’ve been incarcerated ever since I returned on September 22nd. Today this duration has droned on for 200 days and the Honorable Judge William Alsup has now decided to refer my case to mediation. IMO it’s about 200 days too late, but I am hopeful that we will be able to reach an agreement with the US attorney that does not compromise my integrity or my ethics as a journalist in any way. Should the US attorney not be amenable to such a resolution, I am more than prepared to return to prison and wait until the grand jury expires or until I can convince Judge Alsup that I will never be coerced and will not sacrifice my principles for my personal freedom.
I’d like to thank my supporters who have worked so hard to help organize and agitate on my behalf, and to also thank all of you who’ve written to me to express your support and appreciation. These letters give me incredible strength and encouragement. Without all of you and my exemplary legal team I would have been lost navigating this mine field.
Much respect,
Josh
I support you 100% – you are a brave and patriotic American, and history is on your side. http://www.paullevinson.net/archives/free_josh_wolf.phtml
I don’t see how turning over a video tape counts as violating journalistic ethics, which make no prescription for doing such in a situation like this.
May be a new way for France soon. All french vloggers with you.
Courage et merci pour ton combat.
It’s your courage that inspires us, thank you.
Your friends on YouTube would like you to know that your story has been heard and is finding an audience there as you receive this message.
If at all possible you should have videos presented on YouTube or at least allow videos downloaded and spread through our community so we may better serve you.
Fight.
your ethics as a journalist were compromised along time ago when you became a video activist. I imagine your career was going nowhere until you started this stunt. do some real work instead of wasting taxpayers money.
Jack, you are so wrong. Josh was a college student with two jobs at the time, successfully networking in his field and in January of 2006 became employed by Peralta Community College TV as director of media outreach. He spoke on a panel at BloggerCon in San Francisco, he won two Vloggy awards as well as two awards from the Northern California Society for Professional Journalists. This was not a “stunt”, but part of Josh’s ongoing work to document current events happening in his town of San Francisco.
Liz, so you think its appropriate for a journalist one minute to be marching with activists as a member and then the next picking up a camera and calling himself a journalist? Josh is like a few of the bloggers out there who call themselves journos but haven’t put the time or effort into their trade. He is a fraud and doesn’t represent any of us independent journos. Once his 15 minutes is up no legitimate news organisation will have anything to do with him, be they ‘big media’ or smaller independents. You really don’t see how people like this ultimately hurt a more liberal point of view? It gives the other side such power. There were better ways to get his message across but they required some work.
Josh is a selfish hypocrite and an embarrassment to the independent journo community.
I guess the professional journalist organizations don’t see it your way as he has won two prestigious awards from the Society for Professional Journalists and has support from Committee to Protect Reporters, Reporters Without Borders and the National Newspaper Guild.
Liz, thats a good point. its very disturbing to me that these organisations would give an award to a self proclaimed “artist, an activist, an anarchist and an archivist.” not even Josh claimed he was a journalist the day after the event. I have to give you credit for managing this story. these are dark days for all of us.
many ‘journalists’ are published I am having a difficult time finding Josh’s published work (other than the blog) could you point me in the right direction. good for you for standing by him. good luck.
Jack, Josh had an internship in college and wrote for the Santa Barbara Independent in 2002, (I think,) He also wrote for the Daily Nexus (the college paper), some local writing for the Haight Beat and I know there are other odds and ends, but he was primarily a student studying film and psychology. His interest has been primarily film and video. By establishing the blog and filming local events it was a way for him to network and get his work known, as it isn’t real easy to just go into a career in film and video, so Josh thought getting his work out there would be the best way to get started.
Wow! I think Jack has morphised into another entity, actually
really the same with a new name-identity. Josh, you are a
tribute to your profession and a hero in free speech. All
these other people need to get a LIFE!
zithromax side effects…
news…
Just lock the idiot up and forget him. What did he do graduate from the Dan Rather school of creative journalism?
He is not a journalist, he is a politicial activist. He should have the courage to admit it and if he feels he needs to go to prison for him beliefs, fine. I may not agree with what he says, but will support to the death his right to say it.I just get pissed with jerks like him who try and hide behind freedom of the press to escape the consequences of their actions.
And while we are on the subject, the purpose of freedom of the press is to prevent a journalist from being forced to reveal the identity of people who gave information to them in confidence. The reason for it is so injustices of all types and at all levals can be brought tp light and delt with. This case fails that test. No one revealed anything in confidence. It was all done in public on a city street in full view of anyone who cared to look. There was no expectation of confidentuality on anyones part. Therefore no no sources to protect, hence no freedom of the press issue. I suspect that Liz inadvertantly touched on the truth when she said “Josh thought getting his work out there would be the best way to get started”. I have no doubt that he will now be able to get a high paying position with some left wing news organization and recieve a ton of money, which will pay him well for the short time he spent in a federal country club. And note I did not say get a JOB and EARN money, that was not a accidental choice of wording.
In short Josh grow up. And all you jerks out there shouting “Whose streets, our streets”, remember those streets did not just appear. Each and every one of them were built by the very government you want to destroy.
Josh you think your making a change in this world, belive me your words and your pictures will not change the ways so if I were you go and play bloggings with your friends
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