The North Dakota Pipeline has been getting a lot of attention lately. It is an issue that brings two incredibly important social movements to a head: civil rights and the environment. Not only would the construction of the pipeline continue America’s unhealthy reliance on oil, again putting capitalism ahead of citizens and the environment, but it also is an affront to our respect for Native tribes.
Significant archaeological sites that would contribute to the history and culture of the native tribes would be destroyed by the construction of the pipeline. In actuality, the oil company’s bulldozers may already have destroyed the sites on the day after the sites were reported to the company. Over Labor Day weekend, this is why the protests got so heated: the bulldozers started work on the pipeline before the archaeological sites could be reviewed, a possible underhanded attempt to destroy them before any worth could be uncovered. Thousands of protesters gathered to try and stop the bulldozers, and they were successful overall, though they had to fight off attack dogs and pepper spray to do so.
This violence was covered by Democracy Now!’s Amy Goodman. She videoed the violence the natives faced at the hands of the guards hired by the oil company. Armed with attack dogs and pepper spray, these guards did significant damage to the protestors, and numerous bites were reported. Goodman got all of it on camera, a video that has been viewed over 13 million times on Facebook alone according to Democracy Now!.
Now Goodman is being sued by the state of North Dakota, the charges being criminal trespassing. This is but a thinly veiled attempt to attack journalism and free speech, and it is worrying. Goodman was simply exercising her rights as a journalist, telling a powerful story that needs to be heard. The story made North Dakota and the oil company look bad because, well, they did look bad. They did some pretty underhanded and corrupt things simply to make money off of oil. By revealing this to the world, showing the violence used against peaceful protestors, Amy Goodman has, according to North Dakota, committed a crime.
Goodman is an amazing example of the power of journalism. By telling a story simply as it occurs, not embellishing at all, an showing the world the reality of the protest in North Dakota, she has rallied the world behind the protestors and given them a platform and a voice on the global level, something that they might not have been able to achieve on their own. Journalism at its best supports social movements that fight for the rights of all citizens, no matter who they be. Journalists should not be punished for keeping corporations and other organizations accountable. Goodman was well within her rights as a citizen to act the way she did; the guards were certainly not. I hope the justice system straightens this out and protects journalism and free speech, one of the most effective ways to enact change in our world.
