Picture a scene of police bursting through the door of a local newspaper office, and then they proceed to search the place and confiscate computers, hard drives and cell phones of reporters.
From there they proceed to the newspaper publisher's home where again they confiscate more computers, cell phones and other documents, all while the publisher's 98-year-old mother sits in horror watching it all unfold. Sadly, the mother dies the next day from the effects of the stress of the event.
You might think to yourself that this happened in Russia, or China, so what’s the big deal? But sadly, this actually happened recently to a small town newspaper in Kansas.
Eric Meyer, owner and publisher of the Marion County Record said police were motivated to conduct their search and seizure by a confidential source who leaked sensitive documents to the newspaper. He said the message was clear, “Mind your own business, or we’re going to step on you.”
It was reported that the city’s entire five officer police force and two sheriff’s deputies basically took everything the newspaper needed to publish their next edition, and it wasn’t clear how the newspaper staff would get the paper to press that week.
Yes, there was a search warrant, and the raid was part of an investigation into the alleged identity theft of a restaurant owner who had clashed with the paper. There may be more to this story that hasn’t been released, but whatever the final facts find, this likely was not a matter of national security, or anything that should justify this type of action by the police.
Even though the Privacy Protection Acts protects journalists from search, the Marion Police Department argued that the law doesn’t apply when journalists are thought to be involved with criminal activity.
According to a report in the Kansas Reflector, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press sent a letter to Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody, that reads in part: “Newsroom searches and seizures are among the most intrusive actions law enforcement can take with respect to the free press, and the most potentially suppressive of free speech by the press and the public.”
The letter was co-signed by more than 30 news organizations including the Associated Press, Bloomberg news, Gannett, Kansas Press Association, New York Times, NBC news, the New Yorker, Reuters and the Washington Post.
We’re sure if offered the opportunity, 99% of the news organizations and newspapers would add their names to that list, including all the newspapers of the Enterprise Media Group.
