The Indiana Publisher

September 15, 2011 Court rules filming police is protected by First Amendment Editor's note – This arti- cle is reprinted from The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press web- site, www.rcfp.org. The right to film police in the performance of their public duties in a public space is a basic and well-estab- lished liberty safeguarded by the First Amendment, a federal appellate court held in August, marking a major victory in a time when arrests for such activities have been on the rise. The U.S. Court of Appeals Guest Voice By Kristen Rasmussen in Boston (1st Cir.) ruled Aug. 26 that three Boston police officers are not immune from liability for arresting a man who, believ- ing the officers were using excessive force to arrest a young man, recorded the 2007 scene on his cell phone. The officers arrested the spectator, Simon Glik, con- fiscated his cell phone and a computer flash drive and charged him with violation of the Massachusetts wire- tap statute, which requires the consent of all parties to record a conversation. The state Supreme Court has interpreted the statute to criminalize only secret recordings made without such consent. Because the officers admitted that Glik used his cell phone openly and in plain view to obtain the video and audio record- ing, the Boston Municipal Court dismissed the wiretap charge against him. Glik filed a civil rights action against the officers and the city for alleged violations of his First and Fourth Amendment rights. The officers moved to dismiss the complaint, and the lower court denied the motion. (The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press joined a friend-of-the-court brief in support of Glik, although the appellate court declined to consider the brief in evaluating the case.) The appellate court af - firmed the denial, allowing Glik to pursue his claims against the officers. "It is firmly established that the First Amendment's aegis extends further than the text's proscription on laws 'abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press,' and encompasses a range of conduct related to the gath- ering and dissemination of information," the court said. Media advocates say that most Americans' ability to effortlessly capture and distribute digital images, including in increasing num- bers the activities of on-duty police officers without their consent, has spawned an increase in the number of arrests for violation of local and state wiretapping and eavesdropping laws and other offenses, such as dis- turbing the peace. In late July, for example, the Suffolk County police on Long Island, New York, arrested freelance photo- journalist Phil Datz and charged him with obstruc- tion of governmental admin- istration after he filmed officers on the side of the road arresting suspects who had allegedly led officers on a police chase. The department later dropped the charges. And on Memorial Day, Miami Beach police alleged- ly confiscated video-record- ing equipment from at least one member of the public and a TV photojournalist after both witnessed officers fatally shoot a suspect on a public street. Kristen Rasmussen is an Ethics and Excellence Fellow for The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. NFL is super strict about trademarks in ads Keep these trademark rules in mind for advertis- ing during the NFL season: The NFL protects its mul- tiple trademarks tied to teams and the Super Bowl. The league will monitor advertising and seek com- pensation when it believes its trademarks have been infringed. So while you can use phrases such as "Super Bowl" and "Indianapolis Colts" in your news content to discuss games, advertis- ing should avoid using the following words and phras- es: • Super Bowl • NFL • Super Sunday • Names of team mascots, such as "Indianapolis Colts" • AFC or NFC • NFL shield logo • Super Bowl logo • Team logos, helmets, etc. You also can't make tick- ets to NFL games a promo- tional prize without NFL authorization or an arrange ment with an offi- cial sponsor of the NFL that has permission from the league. You can refer to: • The Big Game • The professional football championship game • The date of the game • Cities but not team mas- cots, such as Indian apolis vs. New Orleans • Go, Blue and White • Go, Horse • Go, Blue. Or you can make fun of the fact you cannot print the words "Super Bowl" by blacking it out of an ad. News in brief Semi-weekly paper has new leader David Eldridge has been named publisher of the Perry County News (Tell City). In addi- tion to his duties as publisher, his posi- tion in - cludes responsibilities for the Tell City print- ing plant as well as regional manager res- pon sibility for The Spen- cer County Journal- Democrat and Mount Vernon Democrat. Eldridge most recently was publisher of the The Palladium-Item (Richmond) has hired an advertising director with a history at the Rich- mond-based newspaper. Cathleen Cline spent 20 months beginning in 1997 as the marketing director at the paper and later spent time in St. Cloud, Minn., and Norwich, Conn., working for the Palladium-Item's parent company, Gan- nett. Cline, a native of the San Francisco Bay area Ryan Kartje, a 2011 graduate of the Univer- sity of Michigan, has joined The Herald-Times (Bloomington) as a sports writer. Kartje will cover high school sports, work on the sports desk, and be a columnist and feature writer on the Indiana University basketball beat. While at Michigan, Winchester Sun, a daily newspaper in Winches- ter, Ky. He has years of news- David Eldridge paper experience in both weekly and daily opera- tions that include circu- lation, general manage- ment and publisher roles. He spent six years with Landmark Com- mun ity Newspapers, from 1991-1997, as the general manager of the Henry County Local, a weekly paper in Emin- ence, Ky. Perry County News is a semi-weekly newspaper with a circulation of 5,722. Manager has Gannett experience in California, began her career with Gannett at the Stockton (Calif.) Record in 1990 and later worked at the Reno (Nev.) Gazette-Journal before coming to Rich- mond in 1997. Cline will be in charge of the paper's advertis- ing staff. She said mastering current technology to best serve customers and the newspaper's audi- ence is a key to her new position. Sports reporter joins paper Kartje had stints as managing editor and managing sports editor of the Michigan Daily college newspaper. He worked as an intern on the baseball desk at USA Today this sum- mer. Kartje replaces Hugh Kellenberger, who left the paper to work at the Jackson (Miss.) Clarion- Ledger. Get newspaper week materials National Newspaper Week will be observed from Oct. 2-8 this year, and free materials marking the occasion will be available for pub- lication. Since 1940 the News- paper Associ ation Man- agers has sponsored the only in dustry observance of news papers. This year's theme is "News- papers: the number one source for local news." A package of publica- tion materials, developed by the Florida Press Association and made available through NAM, will be available Sept. 19 at www.national newspaperweek.com. For more information, visit www.national newspaperweek.com. Hall of Fame deadline approaches The Indiana Journal- Nomination letters and CreativeOutlet.com Your new art & ad destination. create@multiad.com | 800.245.9278 ism Hall of Fame will accept nominations for the 2012 class through Oct. 1. A 15-member board makes the selections. documentation should be sent electronically. The nomination pro- cess is outlined on the Hall of Fame's website, indianajournalismhof.org. Send promotions, announcements, staff changes and other corporate news to mtuley@hspa.com. Page 3

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