LOS ANGELES (PTTP) – Former CNN journalist Don Lemon was arrested on January 29th in Los Angeles after covering an anti-ice protest at a Minnesota church, leading to worry among many about the state of the 1st amendment and journalism.
Lemon, who worked at CNN from 2006-2022, is facing federal charges under the FACE act for allegedly obstructing religious practice on Jan. 18, when he reported a protest inside a church. Protesters were speaking out against a church official who was a member of ICE, and Lemon alongside journalist Georgia Fort was arrested for disrupting religious practice.
The former CNN journalist was released on Jan. 30 and has a hearing scheduled for Feb. 9 at a federal court in Minnesota to address the charges. He recently made an appearance on television for an interview with Jimmy Kimmel, where he defended his actions.
“There is a difference between a protester and a journalist,” Lemon said.
Expert on political rhetoric, democratic theory and Associate Professor at the University of Pittsburgh Paul Johnson stated that Lemon’s arrest may reveal a larger gap between the media and Trump’s conservative administration. The arrest shows a long-building shift in conservatism away from reliable journalists, as many believe that their beliefs are incompatible, according to Johnson.
“There’s a general sense, at least for people that adopt a more right-leaning world view, that their interests and the interests of the media diverge,” Johnson said.
While many are worried for the media on the national level after Lemon’s arrest, local media markets like Pittsburgh are facing their own period of transition. Both the Pittsburgh Post Gazette and City Paper recently announced their plans to close, causing a variety of reactions within the local journalism scene. Naomi Weiss, assistant news editor of The Pitt News, sees the closures of these institutions as a potential discouragement for those looking to go into the field. Despite this, her plans as a future journalist have not changed,
“I think that because this happened, the need for journalism is even more important,” Weiss said