Reply to Shocking behavior from Fairfax County Police Offices

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Mike Stark here, the reporter.

I'll address a few different topics that have been raised.

First, media credentials: "credentials" are issued by venues. The House and Senate has a credentialing office called the Gallery. State Houses, concert venues, sports stadiums and other organizations that frequently deal with media will generally establish their own criteria for credentialing. Some cities, like NYC and DC will also issue credentials to press that apply for them, but the vast majority of journalists do not. Most of us work from our desks with our telephone. Here, in Anandale, I'm not aware of any credentialing office for the parade. So was I credentialed? Well, I guess that's in the eye of the beholder. When I'm asked for credentials, I produce my cell phone and navigate to my page on ShareBlue (which serves several million pages per day), and, if required, to other places I've been a reporter. But even who is and is not a reporter is something that's difficult to define. Are David Brooks, Sean Hannity, Paul Krugman and Peggy Noonan press? I think so... But they do something different from Lester Holt and Shepard Smith. And what about TMZ? The point is that I report news and people read my stuff. Sometime's I'm credentialed, sometimes I'm not. At this parade, credentials were irrelevant.

Next, the police order: The policeman told me to get out of the road. I complied with his order to get out of the road, immediately. Then the policeman told me to leave the campaign alone. I told him he'd have to arrest me if he expected me to comply with that order. He said he would. Now things started escalating quickly. I told him I was a reporter. He didn't care. Less than a minute later, I was face down on the sidewalk with a bunch of cops on top of me.

Here's the deal: I was there to cover the parade. Anyone remember the First Amendment and the clause about freedom of the press? Ed Gillespie thinks that doesn't apply to him; that he can enlist police to protect him from the press. That's absurd! I've got every bit the same right to public spaces that Gillespie does. We're both equal citizens. The police shouldn't be taking his side or mine - they should simply enforce the laws. And there is nothing illegal about me asking a candidate for governor questions on behalf of my news organization.

I've got more to say, but some work just came across my desk. Evidently, Gillespie called Northern Virginia "enemy territory"... I've got some writing to do. Catch you later.
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So, let's reviewed...

You're not actually a credentialed reporter. Do you have credentials on Capitol Hill? With police? With any campaign? The blog used the word "credentials" and said you had "credentials." But all you seem to say is you wrote something on the Web and that makes you a reporter. No, you're not. You're IMPERSONATING a reporter. Please stop calling yourself "press." You're muddying the waters for both Democrats and journalists.

Signed, a Democrat and an actual journalist, credentialed by the House and Senate press galleries, the White House, four federal agencies, three different presidential campaigns, and in my earlier years, five different law enforcement agencies (in different cities). Qualifying for credentials, BTW, generally means fulfilling a set of criteria that asks about financial independence and in the case of the White House undergoing a background check by the Secret Service. There is ACCOUNTABILITY associated with those credentials. You don't just identify yourself as a reporter and navigate on your cell phone to a blog you write.

Should you have been arrested? I don't know. But you do seem rather belligerent and interested in escalating the situation rather than diffusing it. And, in this case, you violated one of the basic tenets of actual journalism: Never make YOURSELF the story.

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So I was just on the Hill last week reporting for NowThis. And yes, I was credentialed by the Gallery.

But this debate is tired, tired, tired. Certain reporters (are you Eilperin by chance?) have long held animus toward the democratization of journalism. But here's the thing: you wouldn't feel so threatened if you did your jobs a little better. Ya know why I've been on the trail covering Gillespie since mid-September? Because no other media has asked Gillespie:

1. After Charlottesville, Mr. Gillespie, why is George Allen on your campaign? You know, the former governor that kept a Confederate Flag and a noose in his office... The guy that refused to sign a bill making MLK's birthday a state holiday, but did commemorate Confederate Day. The guy that used the n-word prolifically according to several witnesses.

2. After Las Vegas, Mr. Gillespie, why won't you release your NRA questionnaire? You made certain promises to the NRA, and won their endorsement as a result. Why won't you tell Virginian voters exactly what you promised by releasing your questionnaire?

3. You are running MS-13 ads across the state. Have you given any thought to the effect those ads may have on Latino families that are working hard and playing by the rules? My kids go to school with Latino children and my kids see those ads. What should I tell my kids to ensure we don't produce another generation of young adults that are scared of people that look different or speak a different language?

That's what I've been asking him for six weeks. Maybe you can tell me why that isn't journalism and what differentiates your work from mine.[/quote]

It isn't journalism because these are "when did you stop beating your wife" questions. 1 & 3 are not aimed at extracting information. 2 is a little better. But on the whole, the wording and the tone are aimed at inflicting blows for partisan purposes. Your agenda is to discredit, not to extract information and embarrass him for political means. You're not a journalist -- you are an activist. This is not "citizen journalism." You're no better than Breitbart or James O'Keefe. You can be a provocateur all you want, but this not the way a professional behaves, nor is it more virtuous -- quite the opposite.

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