The Fog of Content

Independent journalists, content creators, and streamers converge and collide in Minneapolis. The arrests of Georgia Fort and Don Lemon make clear the risks they’re taking.

The past few weeks in Minnesota have demonstrated the importance of citizen journalism and the power of video, particularly the footage of the deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Good at the hands of federal agents. And yet the wave of content creators, solo journalists, and national correspondents descending on Minneapolis has broken hard. Most recently, the arrests of Georgia Fort, an Emmy-winning journalist who runs her own media outlet, and Don Lemon, the former CNN anchor who now hosts his own YouTube show, made clear the risks involved in documenting the news—especially for those reporting independently. “Every independent journalist is kind of every person for themselves,” Fort said in an interview last week. She and Lemon have since been released from custody, but they still face federal charges.

“In Minnesota I think we’re seeing the Trump administration kind of testing the waters, especially with independent journalists, because they’re perceived as easier prey,” Liz Kelly Nelson, the founder of Project C, a coalition for creator journalism, said. “They are seen as easier to target because there’s not a big legal defense to instantly swing into action and have a big budget to support them.”