SAG-AFTRA Condemns Arrest of Reporters

CNN was reporting at press time that another journalist was arrested in Ferguson. A Washington Post reporter was detained last week after he did not leave a McDonalds fast enough to please police forces trying to clear the area.

At about the same time as the CNN report, SAG-AFTRA, the union that represents reporters, news writers and editors released a statement in support of its members covering Ferguson.

"SAG-AFTRA joins the rest of the journalism community in condemning the arrest and detention of reporters covering the events happening in Ferguson, Mo.," the union said in a statement. "As a union that represents broadcast journalists, including many local St. Louis broadcasters, we strongly support the rights of journalists not to be impeded in their efforts to report the news. Journalists have an obligation to report what is happening in their community, and the world. We ask that law enforcement in Ferguson permit journalists the freedom to do their jobs."

President Barack Obama also reiterated Monday that journalists in Ferguson must be allowed to do their jobs.

The town has been a caldron of discontent and protest following the shooting of an unarmed black teen by a policeman.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.