Gabe Pressman, President of the New York Press Club, writes: The police manufactured a series of charges against Julia Campbell at Biggies Smalls funeral in 1997, including inciting to riot and pushing an officer



The police manufactured a series of charges against Campbell, including inciting to riot and pushing an officer. Those charges (made in a written report) weren't mentioned by Freeman or the police when the department issued its press release. That The New York Times would be concerned about a "continuum" in relationships with the police is beyond belief. The police are there to serve the public and the job of reporter and editor is to report on the police and scrutinize their behavior, not make deals with them.

PCOL Comment: Peace Corps Volunteer Julia Campbell has been missing since April 8 in a mountainous northern area about 160 miles north of Manila Campbell, 40, was last seen in the town of Banaue in Ifugao province, where she had planned to hike alone. The area is famed for its mountainside rice terraces and pine forests. The New People's Army also operates there.

Gabe Pressman, President of the New York Press Club, writes: The police manufactured a series of charges against Julia Campbell at Biggies Smalls funeral in 1997, including inciting to riot and pushing an officer

A COP-OUT?

Caption: New York Times stringer Julia Campbell is taken away by police as she is arrested and charged with disorderly conduct during a disturbance that broke out in the Brooklyn borough of New York after the funeral procession of rap star The Notorious B.I.G., Tuesday, March 18, 1997, in New York. (AP Photo/Hakim Mutlaq)

Your September/October story, "Hardball in New York," is a home run. Your reporter has depicted accurately the anti-press atmosphere in Mayor Rudy Giuliani's city.

Eve Burton, the general counsel to the Daily News, deserves praise for winning victories in the courts, forcing certain city records to be turned over to the press under freedom of information laws. Sadly, the same thing cannot be said for George Freeman, the assistant general counsel at The New York Times. When Times free-lance reporter Julia Campbell was arrested on charges of disorderly conduct as she was covering the funeral of rapper Biggie Smalls, Freeman made a deal with the police. They dropped the charges against Campbell and he apologized for the "intemperate language" used by Campbell. (Her offense? When they snapped the cuffs on her, the young woman said: "What the . . . is going on?")

The Times allowed the police department to issue a press release announcing that the charges were dropped and the Times had apologized. For what? For a reporter doing her job?

Freeman tells CJR: "We have to look beyond the individual incident to the continuum of dealing with the police department. To be antagonistic would not serve us in the long run."

Is this The New York Times of the Pentagon Papers? of Times v. Sullivan? Is this the same newspaper that exposed the Tweed Ring?

The police manufactured a series of charges against Campbell, including inciting to riot and pushing an officer. Those charges (made in a written report) weren't mentioned by Freeman or the police when the department issued its press release.

That The New York Times would be concerned about a "continuum" in relationships with the police is beyond belief. The police are there to serve the public and the job of reporter and editor is to report on the police and scrutinize their behavior, not make deals with them.

Gabe Pressman
President
New York Press Club
New York, New York

Links to Related Topics (Tags):

Peace Corps Annual Report: 1997; Peace Corps Philippines; Directory of Philippines RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Philippines RPCVs; Journalism

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Peace Corps' Screening and Medical Clearance The purpose of Peace Corps' screening and medical clearance process is to ensure safe accommodation for applicants and minimize undue risk exposure for volunteers to allow PCVS to complete their service without compromising their entry health status. To further these goals, PCOL has obtained a copy of the Peace Corps Screening Guidelines Manual through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and has posted it in the "Peace Corps Library." Applicants and Medical Professionals (especially those who have already served as volunteers) are urged to review the guidelines and leave their comments and suggestions. Then read the story of one RPCV's journey through medical screening and his suggestions for changes to the process.

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PCOL readership increases 100% Monthly readership on "Peace Corps Online" has increased in the past twelve months to 350,000 visitors - over eleven thousand every day - a 100% increase since this time last year. Thanks again, RPCVs and Friends of the Peace Corps, for making PCOL your source of information for the Peace Corps community. And thanks for supporting the Peace Corps Library and History of the Peace Corps. Stay tuned, the best is yet to come.

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History of the Peace Corps PCOL is proud to announce that Phase One of the "History of the Peace Corps" is now available online. This installment includes over 5,000 pages of primary source documents from the archives of the Peace Corps including every issue of "Peace Corps News," "Peace Corps Times," "Peace Corps Volunteer," "Action Update," and every annual report of the Peace Corps to Congress since 1961. "Ask Not" is an ongoing project. Read how you can help.

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