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We stand in solidarity with @CNN reporter @OmarJimenez and all journalists working on the front lines to bear witness to the facts about people, places and events in a democratic society. https://jaws.org/2020/05/29/jaws-stands-with-arrested-cnn-reporter/
While covering ongoing protests over the death of #GeorgeFloyd, Jimenez identified himself as a reporter to the Minneapolis state police, and yet was arrested while a fellow white reporter working not far away was left alone.
When a reporter being broadcast live on national television can be so treated, we know that working journalists — especially those of color — are at risk every day for doing their jobs.
The press — the free press — is the only profession mentioned in the Constitution because its responsibility is essential in a free society. Our profession holds people and institutions accountable to our country’s democratic mission.
JAWS is encouraged by the words of investigative journalist Ida B. Wells, who just received a 2020 Pulitzer Prize posthumously: “The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them.” No institution or system of authority should escape the journalistic lens.
