SPJ REQUESTS REVIEW OF CHARGES FACING JOURNALIST

By: Staff reports Hansen Aided In Defense Of Misdemeanor Charges





The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) has asked federal
officials to drop a criminal case against reporter Brian Hansen.


Hansen, who was arrested last year while covering a public protest
on federal lands in Vail, Colo., faces six months in jail or a $5,000
fine. He was a reporter for the Colorado Daily in Boulder at the time.



SPJ also objects to a new access policy from the U.S. Forest Service
that includes a provision titled: 'Questioning or arrest of member of
news media.' SPJ President Kyle Elyse Niederpruem said the reference
in a federal policy presumes that arrests of reporters can and should
be made.



Hansen, 36, is starting a new post as the assistant bureau chief in
Washington, D.C., for the Environmental News Service. He previously
received a $1,000 Legal Defense Fund grant from the SPJ.




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