Styling himself a First Amendment hero in stark contrast to a nasty president who "has launched an attack on the press," New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo wants to make it a felony to assault journalists while they're doing their jobs.
Thanks but no thanks. In a free society, there is no consistent and principled definition of what a journalist is.
Ramsey Orta's bystander video captured the police takedown of Eric Garner. Was Orta a journalist?
Every day, thousands of New Yorkers tweet in real time about the conditions of their subways and streets and neighborhoods, about crimes they witness and other things. They attend public hearings and community board meetings and tell their neighbors about what they see and hear. Are they journalists?
Assault, obviously, is already a crime in New York _ either a misdemeanor or felony, depending on the severity of the injury. For a select few victims, generally individuals who are performing sensitive and dangerous work on behalf of the public like EMTs, health inspectors and transit workers, the law upgrades misdemeanor assault to felony assault.
But there is no special training or advanced degree needed to find and spread the truth. Reporters are not, thank the Constitution, licensed or regulated by the state.
Give people who happen to inform others an elevated status, and you diminish journalism in the name of safeguarding it.
