A News Site Published a Video of a School Lockdown. Then The Video Was Gone.
A New Jersey judge ordered New Brunswick Today to remove the video and barred it from writing about the episode, alarming First Amendment advocates.
The tip that Charlie Kratovil received in early May was cryptic. There had been a lockdown at New Brunswick High School in New Jersey, the tipster said. Parents were told it was only a drill.
Mr. Kratovil, the editor and founder of New Brunswick Today, got to work. He called sources, sought police records and pressed for information at a New Brunswick Board of Education meeting. His reporting unearthed school surveillance video of what prompted the lockdown: footage showing security officials surrounding a 16-year-old student and confiscating what appeared to be a gun.
Related Knowledge Center: Free speech and public protest
The First Amendment is facing challenging times: Crackdowns on campus protests prompted both-sides claims of intolerance. Attempts to head off dangerous health misinformation have been characterized as violations of free speech. Donald Trump is publicly punishing news outlets that deviate from his administration’s version of events while privately suing some outlets into submission.
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The hollowing out of the local news ecosystem has been well documented; in some communities, efforts are underway to reverse the growing news desert.