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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

The Vox Box

Reporter is accused of “Committing Journalism” in Zimbabwe

From the New York Times

Barry Bearak, a news reporter, was imprisoned in Zimbabwe for doing his job--journalism.

I was being charged with the crime of “committing journalism.” One of my captors, Detective Inspector Dani Rangwani, described the offense to me as something despicable, almost hissing the words: “You’ve been gathering, processing and disseminating the news.”

And I’d been caught at it red-handed, my notes spread across my desk, my text messages readable on my cellphone, my stories preserved by Microsoft Word in an open laptop.

This guy had two dozen policemen and officials in his hotel room, searching for incriminating evidence. Obviously they found his notes and lappy, but other than that, there wasn't much else.

Here's the whole article

What would you do if this happened to you? Do you think journalism is the means for capital punishment?



In 2006, then-editor Steve Smith of The Spokesman-Review had the idea of starting a publication for an often forgotten audience: teenagers. The Vox Box was a continuation of the Vox, an all-student staffed newspaper published by The Spokesman-Review. High school student journalists who staffed the Vox made all content decisions as they learn about the trade of journalism. This blog's mission was to give students an opportunity to publish their voices. The Vox Box and the Vox wrapped up in June 2009, but you can follow former staffers' new blog at http://voxxiez.blogspot.com.