When Journalism Becomes a Target, Not Just a Story
FIRST INSTANCE: The Legacy of COINTELPRO and Journalist Surveillance (1950s-1970s) The tactic of federal agencies targeting individuals for their association with protest movements, even as observers, has deep historical roots. The most notorious example is the FBI's COINTELPRO program, launched in 1956. While ostensibly aimed at 'neutralizing' domestic political organizations deemed subversive,
declassified documents reveal extensive surveillance, infiltration, and harassment of journalists, civil rights leaders, and anti-war activists. For instance, the FBI kept files on over 80 photographers and reporters covering the anti-war movement in the late 1960s, viewing their presence as a threat, not merely observation (Athan G. Theoharis, 1999). Don Lemon's experience, where federal agents
sought him out in a hotel, echoes the intrusive and often unnecessary 'visits' and 'interviews' conducted by agents during this era, designed to create an atmosphere of omnipresent scrutiny. REPETITIONS: Occupy Wall Street and the Policing of Dissent (2011) Fast forward to the Occupy Wall Street movement in 2011. While not always directly targeting journalists with arrests, leaked FBI documents
from 2012 revealed extensive coordination between federal agencies, including the FBI and Homeland Security, and local police departments to monitor, infiltrate, and disrupt the movement. This often included identifying and tracking individuals perceived as 'media coordinators' or those documenting police actions (Partnership for Civil Justice Fund, 2012). The implicit message was clear: