Divide and Conquer: Independent media denied entrance to Norm Coleman events

MnIndy's Paul Schmlzer reports that he and other independent journalists were denied access to a Norm Coleman event Friday while journalists from the MinnPost, Start Tribune and TPT were allowed in (See the video from Chuck Olson of the Uptake).

This mirrors events during the RNC protests were authorities arrested independent and community journalists while releasing credentialed ones.

As many have pointed out, the Constitution enshrines the role of journalism.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press;

What it doesn't do, is provide a formula for who can be a legitimate journalist. The time it was written was the era of the broadsheet and pamphlet, therefore, anyone with access to a printing press was a journalist. These days, with the internet and all, anyone who publishes, despite the format, is a journalist.

There was an attempt last year to formally recognize journalists only as those who, from journalism, earn "a substantial portion of the person's livelihood or for substantial financial gain." That one, the Free Flow of Information Act, got lost in the Senate, but it could pop up again.

I was at an Associated Press job fair yesterday with about ten local traditional newspapers. There were virtually no jobs available, even in small markets. Just internships. It was a job fair without jobs.

As the business model supporting traditional newspaper journalism cracks and flounders, these behemoths have very little advantage over scrappy outfits like the Minnesota Independent. Hell, the Independent breaks more than its share of stories. The main difference between traditional and Indie right now is one of access, essentially a privileged relationship with authorities that might speak to why so many besieged newspapers are hesitant to piss them off and perhaps lose that last bastion of their strength.

At last month's MN SPJ forum about the treatment of reporters during RNC protests, the panel included one journalist embedded with the police during protests and a cameraman who was arrested. The audience, however, consisted of community journalists who were outraged that the mainstream media was holding a conference about why they didn't get treated better, but neglected to usually ask why citizens were treated that way. Suffice to say, sitting next to the assistant police chief and deputy mayor, neither journalist showed much criticism. After all, what did they have to gain?