In Marion County newspaper raid, a grim threat to Kansans’ First Amendment rights

 Via The Kansas Reflector

August 12, 2023

The outrageous law enforcement assault on the Marion County Record newspaper raises a veritable forest of red flags.

Why would a judge sign off on an apparently illegal search? What type of officials would willingly execute such an abuse of power? Could any convoluted sequence of liquor permit infighting possibly justify such drastic measures? Are we still living in a state and nation where the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution applies?

We don’t know definitive answers to any of these questions yet, and the story may well still surprise us. In the meantime, the Record itself and Kansas Reflector’s story offer starting points.

This morning, though, I’d like to write about a part of the story that we do know. We know that law enforcement officials raided the office of a news outlet and carted away computers and cellphones. On its own, with no other background or context, this sets an incredibly destructive precedent.

Not just in Marion.

“Newsroom raids in this country receded into history 50 years ago,” said John Galer, chair of the National Newspaper Association and publisher of the Journal-News of Hillsboro, Illinois.

“Today, law enforcement agencies by and large understand that gathering information from newsrooms is a last resort and then done only with subpoenas that protect the rights of all involved. For a newspaper to be intimidated by an unannounced search and seizure is unthinkable in an America that respects its First Amendment rights. NNA stands by its community newspapers and calls upon top officials in Kansas to immediately return any property seized by law enforcement so the newspaper can proceed with its work.”

An attack on a newspaper office through an illegal search is not just an infringement on the rights of journalists but an assault on the very foundation of democracy and the public’s right to know. This cannot be allowed to stand.

– Emily Bradbury, executive director of the Kansas Press Association

Emily Bradbury, executive director of the Kansas Press Association, added strong words on behalf of local outlets: “An attack on a newspaper office through an illegal search is not just an infringement on the rights of journalists but an assault on the very foundation of democracy and the public’s right to know. This cannot be allowed to stand.”

Imagine for a moment that you’re the editor and publisher of a small weekly newspaper somewhere else in Kansas. Imagine too that you’ve been speaking with a source about potential wrongdoing by a prominent resident. That resident happens to have a friendly relationship with the local police department. You know that publishing the story, even in the best of times, will create a firestorm in your little community.

Now imagine that you read the coverage coming out of Marion County. You see that printing such a story — or even reporting it — might put you at risk of being raided. It might put your employees at risk. It might threaten the entire financial stability of your business.

So do you publish the story? Or do you think twice? Do you potentially delay the piece for a couple of weeks until this all blows over?

Well, do you?

That’s the damage already done in Marion. That’s the damage already done to Kansas journalism. No matter how the story shakes out — if officials return all the seized computers and cellphones this afternoon — a message has been sent. That message conflicts with the tenets of an open society. It conflicts with free expression. It shuts down the ability of democracy’s defenders to do their jobs, informing and educating the public.

Or as Record publisher and editor Eric Meyer told us yesterday: “It’s going to have a chilling effect on us even tackling issues.” What’s more, it will have “a chilling effect on people giving us information.”

A toothpaste tube has been squeezed, hard, and there’s no getting all that minty fresh goo back inside its container.

No matter the size of the outlet, no matter the reporter, the memory of this raid will linger. Stories will be slowed or go unwritten. Towns, cities, counties and entire states will lose out on vital knowledge about the misdeeds of powerful people. That’s why I care, and that’s why the Reflector cares. That’s why journalists across this country, when they learn about what happened in Marion County, will care too.

Look, I understand. Journalists and journalism can be pretty annoying at times. But no one should doubt our commitment to doing our best for both readers and our communities. Folks who stand in the way of us doing that job don’t just pick a fight with us. They pick a fight with the people we serve.

One more point. If you revere the Constitution — as so many conservatives and liberals claim to do these days — don’t just sit back and watch. Step up to defend our shared freedoms. Because if the Marion County Record can’t report and print freely, neither can the rest of us.

And neither can you.

Clay Wirestone is Kansas Reflector opinion editor. Through its opinion section, Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.

Santa Fe's Monroe Gallery presents 'Good Trouble' taking a look at the impact of activists

 Via The Albuquerque Journal

Kathaleen Roberts

August 6, 2023

Carl Mydans/Life Picture Collection

A Pioneer Organizer Of The Office Workers' Union, Wall Street and Broad Street, NYC, 1936

Many of America’s most cherished rights materialized because someone took action.

“Good Trouble,” an exhibition of more than 50 photographs documents the power of the individual to inspire movements at Santa Fe’s Monroe Gallery of Photography.

Photographs can propel passion and inspire change, from the images of a spinning Gandhi to the Standing Rock protests.

The photographs document Civil Rights leaders as well as other lesser-known and everyday people who champion freedom across the globe, from labor to social to environmental issues.

“It’s showing the courage and the necessity for the everyday person to stand up for what’s right,” said Sidney Monroe, gallery co-owner.

The images extend from the 1930s to the present.

Life magazine photographer Carl Mydans captured an office workers’ union protest in 1936. An unidentified woman leads the group cradling an American flag. Mydans was known for his World War II photographs.

“Obviously, she is a young leader of a union,” Monroe said. “For a woman at that time, that’s pretty remarkable.”

The photographer Bill Eppridge, best known for his photographs of the late Sen. Robert Kennedy, took a portrait of the labor leader César Chávez working in a field in 1974.

Chávez was an American labor leader and Civil Rights activist. He co-founded the National Farm Workers Association, which later became the United Farm Workers labor union. Ideologically, his world-view combined leftist politics with Catholic social teachings.

“It’s presented as an everyman, a worker, which of course, he was,” Monroe said.

The collection also encompasses contemporary risk-takers, such as Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg, pictured sitting alone, dwarfed by the shadow of the Swedish Parliament building. Her sign reads “School Strike for Climate.” She was 15 years old.

“It’s become a worldwide movement,” Monroe said. “Apparently, they had some lessons in school, and she said if these parents and adults aren’t going to do anything, I’ll sit outside Parliament.”

Ryan Vizzions’ photograph of the Tennessee Three documents the three state representatives who were expelled from the legislature for protesting Republican inaction on gun violence. The shot captures a press conference after they were reinstated.

Gandhi, perhaps more than any other person, embodies the exhibition’s theme of a long-term commitment to a cause. His spinning in the face of provocations during India’s anti-colonial movement was symbolic of self-sufficiency. He spun daily for one hour beginning at 4 a.m. Famed photojournalist Margaret Bourke-White shot the portrait shortly before Gandhi was assassinated.

“Gandhi was very particular about having an audience with him,” Monroe said. “He insisted she learn how to use a spinning wheel. She wrote Gandhi called her his personal tormentor because she was using this large flash. It was disruptive to his meditation.”

The exhibition will hang through Sept. 17.

'GOOD TROUBLE'

WHERE: Monroe Gallery of Photography, 112 Don Gaspar Ave., Santa Fe

WHEN: Runs through Sept. 17

INFORMATION: 505-992-0800; monroegallery.com.

Federal Appeals Court Undercuts First Amendment Protest Rights

 Via The Brennan Center for Justice

August, 2023

A federal appeals court recently ruled that a protest leader can be sued for injuries caused by a different protester during a demonstration, even when the leader did not direct, encourage, or even approve of the actions involved. The 2–1 decision in the case, Doe v. Mckesson, manufactured a legal loophole large enough to swallow First Amendment rights. To get there, the court disregarded long-settled law and twisted or ignored Supreme Court precedents.

The opinion is so untethered from settled law that it is hard to resist the conclusion that the court punished Mckesson because of who he is: a Black Lives Matter activist protesting police violence.

Good Trouble is on exhibition through September 17, 2023. "Protest is an invaluable way to speak truth to power. Throughout history, protests have been the driving force behind some of the most powerful social movements, exposing injustice and abuse, demanding accountability and inspiring people to keep hoping for a better future. The right to protest encompasses various rights and freedoms, including the freedom of assembly, the freedom of association, and the freedom of expression. Unfortunately, these precious rights are under attack and must be protected from those who are afraid of change and want to keep us divided."

What these men behind a historic photo taken 47 years ago say about race in Boston then and now

 Via WCVB Boston

By Brittany Johnson

July 28, 2023

BOSTON —

The two men who were part of a single historic photograph that captured the essence of racial tension in Boston in 1976 are reflecting on how far the city has come and how far it has to go in order to achieve racial justice.

Ted Landsmark and Stanley Forman met up with WCVB's Brittany Johnson at Boston's City Hall Plaza, where the incident took place.

As Landsmark walked across the plaza, he reflected back to the day a group of protestors attacked him. Landsmark was kicked, hit in the face, and suffered a broken nose. One of the protesters swung the American flag in his direction to use it as a weapon.

"Ironically, on the day when the assault took place, I was on my way to a meeting in City Hall to discuss how the city could open up more job opportunities to contractors of color and to workers of color in the city," Landsmark, who was a young lawyer at the time of the attack, told Johnson.

"I had no expectation that I would encounter a crowd of anti-busing demonstrators," he said. "My mind was fixed on creating opportunities and jobs for young people in the city."

During this time period, Boston was fraught with discrimination and uproar over court-ordered school desegregation.

Stanley Forman

The Soiling of Old Glory" Anti-Busing Protest, Boston, 1976

"Boston half a century ago was fraught with all kinds of discrimination," Landsmark explained. "It affected housing. It affected the police department. It affected schools. It affected our transportation system. Redlining had been in place and had made it virtually impossible for African-Americans to be able to live where they wanted to live in the city. The transportation system was one that discriminated in terms of employment. It was a place that was very uncomfortable for people of color, and African Americans in particular, to live and to have opportunities for career growth and opportunities to really take advantage of all of the educational opportunities that exist within the city."

With the racial climate at the forefront, Landsmark said he knew the attack could transcend into a way for him to speak to larger issues of the civil rights movement.

"From the moment I was attacked in City Hall Plaza, I knew that I was going to be placed in a position to have an opportunity to talk about the issues of race and of access to jobs and education that existed within this region. It was clear to me that people of color, and African-Americans in particular, had been discriminated against for generations, and that at that moment, there was an opportunity for me to have a platform to address those issues in the context of bussing as it was taking place in the city," he said.

The Pulitzer Prize photograph, titled "The Soiling of Old Glory," was taken by photojournalist and former NewsCenter 5 videographer Stanley Forman.

"The day I took that picture, I didn't get — I tell everybody, I didn't get the impact of it. I mean, I ran down and continued on the coverage. They left here (City Plaza), and I just followed them," F0rman said.

"When did you realize the magnitude of what you had?" Johnson asked Forman.

"I think when we were in the office, and the editors were looking at it, and I was looking at it, and they were so frightened it would start a race war," Forman replied. "I think that's when I realized how bad it was. It took a few hours for me to catch on."

"What Stanley and I have realized over time is that the photograph provides an incentive, a platform for us to raise issues around race in the city, not only in terms of what happened in the 1970s but more importantly in terms of what is happening now as we look forward with new generations of individuals who are addressing these same issues of racial justice," said Landsmark.

Landsmark, a long-time civil rights activist and now a professor of public policy at Northeastern University, said Boston has come a long way but said work still needs to be done to achieve racial justice.

"There's been a great deal of change in the city, primarily in the public sector. Our city council is elected and is composed primarily of people of color. For the first time, we have a person of color as mayor within the city, and we've made significant advancement in many of our public sector areas, but we have a huge amount of work to do in the private sector. Our financial services area, our high-tech companies, our universities, our biotech firms all need to do considerably more to open up job opportunities for young people of color in and around the city and need to use their private sector resources and capital to develop job training programs and career opportunities for people within the city," said Landsmark.

"In 2023, did you think you'd still be speaking about achieving racial justice?" Johnson asked Landsmark.

"I was perhaps naïve in believing that by 2023 we would be much further along not only in Boston but nationally in terms of achieving racial justice, in terms of achieving opportunities for African-Americans to be able to be professionals and homeowners and to maintain stability within their families. And it's a little disappointing that we're still struggling today with many of the same issues that we faced in 1976 when I was attacked on City Hall Plaza," he said.

Just down from City Hall Plaza, the NAACP convention was getting underway.

It has been over 40 years since the annual convention was held in the Commonwealth, and Landsmark hopes that the return of the national convention to the city will serve as a tide change in Boston's history.

"Boston is definitely ready to take advantage of this moment, in part because our elected officials have embraced social change, in part because the demographics of who is living in the city have changed so significantly, and in part, because we understand that the future of the city is dependent on the success of people of color in the greater Boston area," Landsmark said.

WCVB

Ted Landsmark and Stanley Forman

The message of the 114th National Convention is "Thriving Together," which is something Landsmark and Forman know a thing or two about, as they are forever attached to the story of "The Soil of Old Glory."

"People have asked me whether I thought Stanley should have intervened somehow," Landsmark shared, as he was standing beside Forman. "And I think that in doing his job of taking the photo at that moment, he contributed to the kind of dialog that we need to have not only in Boston but around the country, around the implications of hate and racial violence and what it is we need to think about doing to eliminate both."

"And that moment was captured in a famous photograph where a young person was trying to kill me with the American flag.”

 Via WBUR

July 23, 2023

Civil rights activist Ted Landsmark reflects on Boston's reputation for racism — and how the city has and hasn't changed.

“I was on my way to an affirmative action meeting with city officials to try to open more jobs for people of color and minority contractors in the city of Boston,” Landsmark says. “I was attacked by a group of anti-busing demonstrators. And that moment was captured in a famous photograph where a young person was trying to kill me with the American flag.”

Stanley Forman: "The Soiling of Old Glory" Anti-Busing Protest, Boston, 1976

Listen here:

The Real Frame In The Digital Age

 Via David Butow/The Real Frame

July, 2023

David Butow: The AI/photography space is moving so fast I created a website with fellow photog David Paul Morris to help keep track and open a dialogue as things unfold, for better or worse.

By David Butow and David Paul Morris –

There are existential questions about how Artificial Intelligence will modify the appeal and strength of photography. The principle one is: what impact will the technology have on viewers, from the pure enjoyment of an aesthetically pleasing image to the usefulness of pictures to tell us something truthful about the social and natural conditions of the world?

That is why we’ve created this website, to consider these questions as they’re unfolding, and allow people to contribute to the discussion in comments at the bottom of the posts. The have been many articles about the subject in the last few months so we’ve consolidated several of them onto the posts marked “AI & Fautojournalism.”

We’ll also discuss the opposite of AI photography, with gear reviews and posts tagged “Real Frames” which feature single, non-computer generated photographs, from ourselves and various contributors, and tell the backstory about how they were created. Our first RF post is from Rian Dundon‘s new book “Protest City“.

Welcome and thank you for joining us. If you’d like to sign up for our mailing list write us at TheRealFramePhoto@gmail.com and put “subscribe” in the subject line. You can find more about us on our “About” page.

So let’s go…

The recent rapid advances in artificial intelligence raises a question for many people who like making photo-style images: “Do I even need to leave the house?” For some I think the answer will be “no.” Before the emergence of AI imagery there has been a dynamic emerging of enthusiasts who take photo tours to get specific types of pictures that are essentially set up for them when the get to the destination. The less adventurous wing of that crowd will probably gravitate towards AI, doing everything at home or perhaps creating some combination of real and imagined pictures.

THE EXPERIENCE

The other approach, the thing we most enjoy about making real frames, is being there. The desire not just to create, but to experience something first-hand. The picture becomes of the synthesis of the two. It’s about taking chances and being open to fulfillment, or disappointment. This means witnessing something for the first time, not knowing exactly what will unfold, but knowing it’s often something more interesting than we could have imagined.

Great pictures were not made by photographers who knew exactly what they were going to get. They hiked mountains, went to neighborhoods that made them feel strange. They faced dangers, they ate weird food, they got too cold or too hot, they got lost, and then they found something no one had ever seen before. 

You don’t have to travel far and wide to find of these moments, they might occur in your own home or walking down the sidewalk. But being “present” in that moment, connecting with your environment in some way enriches your own experience and the picture becomes a reflection of that experience.

TRUTH AND RESPECT

The value of that experience runs through the whole process of making the images, starting with the subjects, be they people, animals, cityscapes or natural scenes. If a photographer has been physically present in the environment there will always be an element of truth to the work, no matter how interpretive it is. 

We’re already seeing very clever and fun uses of the technology. Good art always pushes boundaries and I think in the broad field of visual communication, we should embrace the possibilities. The trouble lies in the potential for misuse of these pictures for disinformation, false historical revisionism, and deceitful propaganda.

Beyond just a single fake image or video being used to mislead people, the cumulative effect of repeated examples is likely to have a detrimental effect on the public such that people might question the veracity of nearly everything they see online, particularly things that challenge them in some way. In other words, they might believe the stuff that’s fake, and not believe the things that are real. This could be a gnarly combination of cynicism and denial, accelerating the “post-truth” dynamic.

So while we’ll discuss AI and its alarming implications, we’ll also have a lot of upbeat discussions about making real frames. The photographer gets satisfaction from making these kinds of pictures and the viewer is served by seeing something that is really out there, something they might have seen themselves, albeit in a different way. That’s where the value of photography lies and that’s what separates it from other art forms. It’s what’s kept photography alive for nearly 200 years and hopefully what will keep it relevant in the midst of these profound technological changes.

The Real Frame

NYC to pay $13 Million for violating the rights of protesters over several days in late May and early June of 2020.

 Via The New York Times

July 20, 2023

Ed Kashi: Protest after the Minneapolis Police murder of George Floyd, Manhattan, New York, 

June 2, 2020

The city settled a major class-action lawsuit that said unlawful police tactics had violated the rights of more than 1,000 people who protested after Mr. Floyd’s killing. he City of New York agreed to pay about $13.7 million to settle the class-action suit, which said that unlawful police tactics had violated the rights of protesters over several days in late May and early June of 2020. New York Times journalists covering the protests saw officers repeatedly charge at protesters out after curfew with little apparent provocation, shoving people onto sidewalks and striking them with batons.

On exhibition through September 17, 2023: "Good Trouble". From the exhibition description:

"Protest is an invaluable way to speak truth to power. Throughout history, protests have been the driving force behind some of the most powerful social movements, exposing injustice and abuse, demanding accountability and inspiring people to keep hoping for a better future. The right to protest encompasses various rights and freedoms, including the freedom of assembly, the freedom of association, and the freedom of expression. Unfortunately, these precious rights are under attack and must be protected from those who are afraid of change and want to keep us divided." Visit the exhibition here.

Watch a conversation with Stephanie Keith and Ryan Vizzions, who met while documenting the Standing Rock protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline, discuss their experiences documenting protest movements, recent efforts to suppress protest, and the increase in the misuse of force by police at protests.

On May 8, Keith was arrested while documenting a candlelight vigil in New York City for Jordan Neely, a homeless man who was choked to death on the subway.

Lawsuit to halt melting of Confederate statue at centre of deadly Virginia rally largely dismissed

Via The Art Newspaper

July 19, 2023 

A lawsuit brought by two organisations seeking to block a museum from melting down the equestrian statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee that was at the centre of the deadly 2017 rally of white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia, has been largely dismissed.

Sanjay Suchak and Ryan Vizzions both documented the memorial in Richmond, Virginia in 2020..

Sanjay Suchak: Robert E. Lee Monument Overhead, Richmond, Virginia, July 2, 2020

Ryan Vizzions: Robert E. Lee Memorial, Richmond, Virginia, January 7, 2020

Ashley Gilbertson Photographs For The New Yorker

 Via The New Yorker

July 17, 2023

Gallery photographer Ashley Gilbertson photographed for the New Yorker story below.

Country Music’s Culture Wars and the Remaking of Nashville

Tennessee’s government has turned hard red, but a new set of outlaw songwriters is challenging Music City’s conservative ways—and ruling bro-country sound.

An Evening with Bob Gomel and screening of the film Bob Gomel: Eyewitness

Via MATCH Houston 

When history was made, Bob Gomel was there.

Bob Gomel: Eyewitness is a documentary that examines the stories behind the stories of some of the most significant events in the 20th century. Hear and see the history unfold from the perspective of a legendary LIFE Magazine photographer. Join us for An Evening with Bob Gomel - The theatrical premier of the documentary Bob Gomel: Eyewitness, including 14 additional minutes of previously unseen material. There will be a Q/A session with Bob Gomel and director David Scarbrough following the showing. 

Thursday, July 20 at 7:30 PM

Q & A Immediately following the screening

with Bob Gomel and David Scarbrough 

Tickets: $10

How the documentary came to be:

Bob Gomel and David Scarbrough share a love of storytelling through photography.

During the past decade the two men and their spouses, Sandy Gomel and Mary Scarbrough, became friends. Bob’s shot of The Beatles in poolside lounge chairs hangs in the Scarbroughs’ home. It was Mary’s birthday gift to David for his 60th birthday.

David said, “The history Bob witnessed is important. So are the effort and creativity necessary to make extraordinary images of these historic moments. Many of the images are made even more powerful by Bob’s perspective on how they were created. ”David convinced Bob to reflect on his work for LIFE magazine in the 1960s and his subsequent career.

Over dinner one evening, the Scarbroughs proposed making a documentary of Bob’s career. Bob said, “David offered a compelling idea to consider. After a few days, I said, ‘Let’s do it.’”

The documentary project came together quickly. A small studio was set up in Scarbrough’s retail computer electronics shop in Houston. Sessions were shot on Sundays when the shop was closed and outside noise was minimal. As many filmmakers do now, David chose to record the videos in 4K on two iPhones in a two-shot setup. A MacBook Pro and Adobe Premier Pro were be used to edit the video.

The recordings began with a discussion of the Cassius Clay and Sonny Liston fights. The project quickly gained momentum as David executed his vision for the project, and the stories of more of the epic photos came to life.

“The challenge was to balance Bob’s unique ability to talk about the images and history, and to ensure the viewer remained immersed in the image itself,” David said. “I hope the viewer can briefly live in the moment of the images.”

Bob said, “The decade of the 1960s was historically powerful. We witnessed so much — from the terrific to the terrible. I’m grateful that David remains interested in the history of the 1960s and that his documentary helped share my perspective on the extraordinary events of the decade and on my life as a photographer.”

A headline in a recent Albuquerque Journal article read: “Bob Gomel’s Photographs Compel Even after 40 Years.” The renowned LIFE photographer has documented many of the great moments and personalities of contemporary history. Articles and books have chronicled Bob’s adventures, including Art Buckwald’s “Leaving Home”, Yoko Ono’s “Memories of John Lennon”, “Arnold Palmer: A Personal Journey,” “Malcolm X”, by Thulani Davis, and Dick Stolley’s “Our Century in Pictures”. His work is exhibited at The Monroe Gallery, Santa Fe.

Bob is a founding member of the Houston chapter of ASMP, the American Society of Media Photographers. ASMP is the leading professional organization for photographers and videographers working in the visual marketplace. The core mission of ASMP is to advocate, educate, and provide community for image makers — fostering thriving careers, a strong sense of professional ethics, and an unshakable belief in the power of images.

Forthcoming exhibition and Gallery Talk with Bob Gomel: October 6, 2023. Details soon!