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A police raid on a U.S. newsroom has astounded media advocates who question the legality of the action. Jessica Jerreat has the story, narrated by Amy Katz.
Content TypePackage
LanguageEnglish
Transcript/ScriptPF Kansas Newspaper Raid
HEADLINE: Police Raid on US Newsroom Shocks Press Freedom Advocates
TEASER:
PUBLISHED AT: 08/14/2023 at 8:50 pm
BYLINE: Jessica Jerreat
DATELINE:
CONTRIBUTOR: Cristina Caicedo Smit, Liam Scott
VIDEOGRAPHER: Bruce Ferder
VIDEO EDITOR:
SCRIPT EDITORS: Reifenrath, Mia Bush
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA, AP, Marion County Record
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV X RADIO
TRT: 2:29
VID APPROVED BY: mia
TYPE: TVPKG/RADIO
EDITOR NOTES:
For Credits/Courtesy please review AP file Slug: US KS Newspaper Raid
Video ID: 4449009 ))
((Intro))
[[A police raid on a U.S. newsroom has astounded media advocates who question the legality of the action. Jessica Jerreat has the story, narrated by Amy Katz. ))
((NARRATOR)) ((Mandatory CG: Marion Country Record))
Surveillance video captures the moment police raided the newsroom of a weekly newspaper and seized equipment in Marion, Kansas.
Seven officers from the Marion Police Department searched the offices of the Marion County Record and the home of its publisher and co-owner, Eric Meyer, on Friday.
((Eric Meyer, Marion County Record Publisher))
“They took a laptop and my mother's computer from my mother's house and the computer of the vice mayor from her house. In addition, they took the vice mayor, mine and two of our reporters’ personal cellphones and have not told us when they're giving them back."
((NARRATOR)) ((Mandatory CG: Marion County Record))
A search warrant links the raid to a dispute between the local paper and local restaurant owner Kari Newell, who accuses the paper of invading her privacy.
She says journalists illegally accessed details about her and her driving record.
The newspaper said it used information verified by public records.
One day after the raid, Meyer’s 98-year-old mother, Joan -- a co-owner of the paper -- died. Her son believes the stress of the raid is to blame.
More than 30 media groups have protested the action in a letter to the Marion Police Department.
((For radio: Beth Francesco is the executive director for the National Press Club Journalism Institute in Washington))
((Beth Francesco, National Press Club Journalism Institute))
“There are, in fact, laws that protect journalists from this type of egregious overreach. In most cases, when it gets to this point, when a journalist’s work is being called into issue, the reporter or the news organization has to get subpoenaed first.”
((NARRATOR))
The Marion Police Department did not reply to VOA’s email requesting comment. But in a Facebook statement, it defended its actions.
((For radio: Clayton Weimers is executive director of the U.S. bureau of the media watchdog Reporters Without Borders ))
((Clayton Weimers, Reporters Without Borders ))
"A raid of the scale against Marion County Record is pretty unprecedented. At the very least, it's extremely rare. It might be the first instance of it happening in exactly this way. The entire police department of Marion, Kansas, came down on their offices, as well as the home of the co-owner Joan Meyer.”
((NARRATOR))
The raid has shocked press freedom advocates across the nation. But data shows the incident is not isolated; there have been several other search-and-seizure cases in the U.S. in recent years.
((For radio: Again, Francesco of the National Press Club Journalism Institute))
((Beth Francesco, National Press Club Journalism Institute))
“These tactics are often used to silence the media and to keep citizens in the dark about what’s happening in their communities.”
((NARRATOR))
Meyer says the newspaper plans to sue the police department and possibly others, calling the raid an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment’s free press guarantee.
((For Jessica Jerreat, Amy Katz, VOA News))
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)
Marion, Kansas
Embargo DateAugust 14, 2023 20:44 EDT
Byline
Jessica Jerreat, Amy Katz, VOA News
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
