Land of the Free? Not in Ferguson

By Rodger Brand
National Board Representative

The events surrounding the Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson, Missouri, this past August were a reminder that journalists don’t just risk their lives and freedom visiting war zones and third-world hot spots. A local newspaper photographer was assaulted when vandals and looters realized they were being caught on film. And several reporters were rounded up by police when they were meeting peacefully at the local McDonald’s to discuss the scene and compare notes. It even affected me, as an airborne journalist, when the FAA issued a TFR — temporary flight restriction — over the Ferguson area for more than a week. This was at the request of law enforcement. And it happened again Sept. 10, when there was an act of civil disobedience organized in an attempt to shut down an interstate in the St. Louis area.

This practice of shutting down airspace to restrict airborne news gathering is becoming more common around the country, and with no real justification for doing so. And in a situation like what developed in Ferguson, allowing aerial coverage of the unfolding events is a safer way to tell a story. There is no reason to keep people like me from offering my perspective and insight from overhead.

In a sense, it violates my right of free speech by not allowing me to cover unfolding news events from the air, while others are granted that access on the ground. Let’s hope this idea of restricting the media’s access doesn’t become more pervasive and widespread than it already is.

This item was originally featured in the October 2014 local newsletter.