DEIA'S STATEMENT

My name is Deia Schlosberg and I am an independent filmmaker and climate reporter. I was arrested while filming an act of nonviolent civil disobedience in North Dakota and I'm currently facing felony charges that I believe are unjust. I am a climate reporter; my specialty is following the story of how humankind is creating a grave problem for civilization by continuing to flood the atmosphere with greenhouse gases through the burning of fossil fuels and other industrial processes. I don't think there is nearly enough reporting on climate change nor the movement of people around the world working to lessen the impacts of climate change.

When I was arrested, I was doing my job. I was reporting. I was documenting. Journalism needs to be passionately and ethically pursued and defended if we are to remain a free democratic country. Freedom of the press, guaranteed by the First Amendment, is absolutely critical to maintaining an informed citizenry, without which, democracy is impossible.

It is the responsibility of journalists and reporters to document newsworthy events, and it is particularly important for independent media to tell the stories that mainstream media is not covering. The mainstream did not break the story on fracking nor did it break the story about what is happening at the Standing Rock reservation in North Dakota. Accordingly, I felt I had a duty to document the unprecedented #ShutItDown climate action, which stopped all Canadian oil sands from entering the United States. Canadian oil sands importation is a controversial issue that is not getting the coverage it warrants, especially considering that the extraction and use of oil sands has a profound impact on every person on this planet. With my recent films How to Let Go of the World and Love All the Things Climate Can't Change, Backyard, and Stories of Trust, I have sought to portray and humanize the climate movement that is fighting for all of us with integrity, resilience and deep compassion.

I'd also like to call attention to two reporters covering the same action in Washington State, Lindsey Grayzel and Carl Davis, who are facing preliminary felony charges as well. For reporters who are simply doing their job, which is their constitutionally-protected right, to be facing such charges is an outrage.

JOSH’s STATEMENT ABOUT DEIA
October 18, 2016

I need to write a bit about my marvelous friend and filmmaking partner, Deia Schlosberg. She is an independent journalist, documentarian, producer, explorer and cameraperson. She was arrested while filming a protest in North Dakota and charged with three counts of criminal conspiracy. Her sentence could be as long as 45 years. By contrast, and in support of the case, Edward Snowden tweeted in support of Deia that he was only facing 30 years.

Deia’s arrest is part of a disturbing trend. A warrant was issued for journalist Amy Goodman's arrest for participating in a "riot," when in fact she was simply reporting on violent police repression of pipeline protests in North Dakota. She came back to the state to answer the charges, and a judge threw them out. Actress Shailene Woodley was also arrested for livestreaming a protest at a pipeline construction site in North Dakota. Another well-established documentarian, Lindsey Grayzel and the cameraperson she hired for the day, Carl Davis, were both arrested for attempting to cover pipeline protests in Washington state, and they are now facing primary felony charges. For reporters who are simply doing their job, which is their constitutionally protected right, these arrests and charges are an outrage.

Deia’s work as a journalist and filmmaker has always been exceptional, and conscientiously motivated by climate change. Her work in documentary for the past decade has been focused on the fossil fuel industry. She directed two films, Backyard, which reports on the negative effects of fracking and Cold Love, about Lonnie Dupre, an explorer whose love of the fragile arctic ecosystem is a warning to the whole warming planet. Most recently, she produced and filmed my latest film How to Let Go of the World and Love All the Things Climate Can’t Change, the third film in the GASLAND series that was broadcast on HBO. As producer, she was the captain of our ship on a journey that lasted three years and took us to six continents. She created an amazing team and her leadership, generosity, and kindness (as well as her skill with the camera) were essential to the project.

The film took us all over the world, from the Amazon to North Dakota, to China, to Australia to Hurricane Sandy-ravaged New York City, reporting on the front lines of climate change and those who are fighting it in the most dire circumstances. It is a film about holding fast to your values even in the most grave danger. Deia’s entire world is threatened now, with the possibility of decades in jail hanging over her head. But she is holding fast to her values and speaking out about these insane and unjust charges.

In the course of her climate reporting, Deia has risked her life many times. She hiked the entire length of the Andes mountains, a journey which took two years to complete, for which she won National Geographic Explorer of the Year award. I have seen her wading up to her neck in oil-spill infested waters in the Amazon, where one misstep can land her in a swarm of red ants, or huge spiders and poisonous green pit vipers. She has been menaced by oil company secret police through the jungle in Peru while trying to track down unreported oil spills.

Deia does this work because she believes that it needs to be done. She believes that without great reporting on climate change, without a public that is informed about the dangers of our continuing to emit greenhouse gases, we face a far greater risk than any that She could suffer individually. We face huge risks to our planet and to our civilization, that is why all climate reporters do what we do.

I am sure that Deia expects, and braves her way though, a certain degree of that kind of danger when doing this work. Of course, I never thought that the gravest danger to Deia’s life would be facing unjust charges here at home for pursuing a constitutionally protected activity: journalism. Neither she nor I ever expected that kind of harm to come from the United States government or the police.

The #ShutItDown climate action Deia repoted on was unprecedented. For a short time, it stopped all Canadian tar sands oil from entering the US. Tar Sands extraction is incredibly environmentally damaging and carbon-intensive, causing a massive amount of greenhouse gas emissions. It's critically important news. But did you hear about it on the mainstream media? I doubt it. That is why what Deia and other reporters like her are doing is important. We cover necessary stories that mainstream media won't.

Deia also believes that true documentary filmmaking, where the filmmaker takes time to really learn deeply about a subject and a group of people is essential to understanding the subject of climate change. Her work brings us intimate portraits of Americans that are deeply sympathetic. We need humanity in our reporting. Too often climate change is an issue that is reported on by looking simply at numbers or political positions. The nuances that long-form documentary reporting can bring out are vital and necessary. Protesters are often reduced to symbols for their actions. But they are people. Both Deia and I believe we have a duty to tell their stories in depth, no matter what you think of their actions, so that we can see a deeper level of humanity in them.

The recent spate of arrests of journalists and filmmakers for reporting on pipeline protests are actions we might expect from the most repressive governments in the world, not from the United States. Throughout history when fascistic regimes want to consolidate control against an righteously indignant population, the first step is to lock up opponents and the journalists who cover them. That's why freedom of the press is enshrined in the Constitution. Without it, we are simply not living in the United States of America.

Please support the legal defense fund for the protestors HERE. And please sign the open letter I have written to support Deia HERE.

Thank you!

Josh Fox