Reporter arrests

An American journalist detained in Iran is on trial this week, entirely in secret, on charges she is a spy for the United States government, The New York Times and The Washington Post report.

Roxana Saberi, the Iranian-American journalist who has been detained in Iran for more than two months, has been charged with espionage, the Associated Press reports.

Iranian officials say the reporter was working with expired press credentials at the time of her late January arrest, the AP said.  Saberi, a U.S.-born journalist, had lived in Iran for six years and and has reported for organizations including the BBC and NPR.

A pair of American journalists detained in North Korea on charges of illegally entering the country through the Chinese border will be put on trial, The New York Times reports Tuesday.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan is questioning whether prosecutors are targeting a reporter, who has been charged with obstructing police while covering a story, in retaliation for her "long, distinguished history of exposing government irregularities and corruption," reports The Michigan Messenger.

Last summer’s Republican National Convention is just a memory in St. Paul now, but the controversy surrounding the overwhelming police presence and resulting mass arrests of protesters and journalists lives on. The St. Paul Ad-Hoc RNC Investigating Commission is expected to submit its final report to the City Council this Wednesday, although it is unknown if it will settle the issues or even be made publicly available.

A Michigan reporter was arrested Nov. 4 at the scene of a fatal motorcycle wreck, and she claims an officer erased from her camera photos she took of the crash site, according to The Associated Press.

A Chicago-based freelance photographer has been arrested at news scenes on obstruction charges twice in the last month, once after allegedly being told he couldn't take photos of a police-involved shooting.

A photographer for a Pennsylvania State University newspaper has been charged with two misdemeanors while covering a riot, The Daily Collegian reported.

The riot in downtown State College began on Oct. 25 after a Penn State football victory, and quickly spawned destructive and illegal behavior, according to State College police. Michael Felletter, a student photographer for The Collegian, said he received a call from his editor-in-chief to cover the riot.

Police stripped an Oakland Tribune videographer of her footage of an Oct. 31 immigration rights protest -- which included an officer's profanity-laced reprimand -- before returning the recording Monday, the paper reported.  

A Chicago-based freelance photographer was still waiting Wednesday for police to hand back his video equipment, more than a week after his arrest at a crime scene for allegedly refusing to stay behind the yellow tape.