Journalist Sarah Olson on Hot-Seat in Watada Court Martial

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Progressive magazine editor Matt Rothschild reports, "Sarah Olson was on a big story, and now she has become a part of it. The freelance journalist was one of the first reporters to cover the story of Lt. Ehren Watada, who is facing a court martial for publicly refusing to deploy to Iraq. Watada has denounced the war as 'illegal and unjust.' Now the army has subpoenaed Olson and another reporter to testify at Watada’s trial. ... She believes this case could set an awful precedent. 'It has the potential to be devastating to the independence of the press and to the press’s ability to report on dissenting voices particularly,' she says. 'When individual reporters know they’ll be hauled in front of a military court and have their credibility eviscerated, they’re going to be far less likely to go to the trouble of reporting on subjects that are unpopular with the current Administration or in other ways controversial.' "