Josh Wolf

After Josh Wolf took a job as a general assignment reporter at the Palo Alto Daily Post in 2008, he had some choice words for critics who have questioned his claim of being a journalist.

February 7, 2007 marked the 169th day of Wolf's imprisonment, surpassing the time served by Vanessa Leggett, a Houston-based freelancer who was imprisoned for 168 days in 2001 and 2002 for declining to reveal unpublished material about a murder case. Wolf remained in jail for a total of 226 days, the longest time a U.S. journalist has been held in contempt for refusing to divulge sources or unpublished material.

On April 3, 2007, according to Wolf's lawyer David Greene, prosecutors dropped their insistence that Wolf testify before a grand jury after he posted the unaired video online. With permission from the prosecution, U.S. District Judge William Alsup signed an order requiring Wolf's release from the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, California.

In a televised interview on February 9, 2007, Wolf and his attorney, Martin Garbus, responded to the question of the legitimacy of federal involvement, by claiming that the legal efforts against Wolf were part of a broader attempt by the government to learn the identity of people within the video who are critical of the Bush administration and to suppress American journalism at large.

On July 4, 2007, Wolf announced his candidacy for the office of Mayor of San Francisco, against incumbent Gavin Newsom. Promising an "open and transparent government", Wolf stated he would wear a video camera everywhere he does his mayoral business. His platform also discussed homelessness, crime, transportation, public works, gay marriage, medical marijuana and other issues.

Wolf refused to comply with the subpoena. His case was picked up by the National Lawyers Guild who asked a federal magistrate in San Francisco to block the grand jury subpoena, arguing that taking such action would have a chilling effect on other journalists covering future protests. U.S. District Judge William Alsup rejected this argument and ordered Wolf be jailed on August 1, 2006 for contempt of court until he complied.

A federal appeals court granted him bail on August 31, 2006 and he was released on September 1, although Wolf again refused to comply with the district court order that he produce the videotape. On September 18, 2006 his bail was revoked and Wolf returned to prison on September 22, 2006. The entire en banc Court of Appeals refused Wolf's subsequent appeals.

Questions of Wolf's legitimacy as a journalist have been answered by support from various journalist groups. For example, on August 23, 2006 (22 days after Wolf was incarcerated), The Society of Professional Journalists awarded him their Journalist of the Year "for upholding the principles of a free and independent press." The SPJ described Wolf as "...a California blogger and freelance journalist..." Josh Wolf was the only journalist jailed for his professional activities in the United States in 2006, according to Committee to Protect Journalists (this organization is a member of International Freedom of Expression Exchange). Support in the journalistic community is not uniform, however. On February 28, 2007, syndicated columnist Debra Saunders attacked the credibility of Wolf's arguments, namely the lack of an expectation of privacy of those he was filming.

The Rise Up Network Legal Fund held a benefit to help free Josh Wolf and the media in general on September 21, 2006. Featured speakers included Ross Mirkarimi, Chris Daly, and Judith Miller.

Wolf, a video blogger who reported on numerous protest and progressive events, videotaped an anti-G8 anarchist protest in San Francisco on July 8, 2005 in which some of the protesters wore masks and vandalized property. Later that same night, and over the next few days, Wolf edited his footage and posted the video to a local activist news website, Bay Area Indymedia, or Indybay. Wolf also sold the video to the television broadcast station KRON the day after the protest. In the process of documenting protest actions, Wolf had recorded a tense scene of a protester being choked by a police officer and another officer threatening passersby with stun guns. The only other recording that was broadcast nearly as much was a still photograph of a bloody police officer who was injured during the protest, not taken by Wolf. Other activists who posted video and photographs to the Bay Area Indymedia website were contacted by the FBI seeking their original source materials, but it is unknown how many, if any, turned over their recordings to Federal authorities. Wolf's videotape is the only known source material from the protest to have been sought by subpoena after refusal to turn it over. On April 3, 2007, Wolf posted the unpublished footage on his blog after being assured that he would not have to testify about the footage.

Wolf attended Wrightwood Elementary School in Wrightwood, California and Pinon Mesa Middle School in Phelan, California. He graduated from Serrano High School in Phelan, California in 2000. Wolf received a bachelor's degree from San Francisco State University in 2006, and finished a master's degree at the University of California Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism in 2011.

Joshua Selassie "Josh" Wolf (born June 8, 1982) is an American freelance journalist and internet videoblogger who was jailed by a Federal district court on August 1, 2006, for refusing to turn over a collection of videotapes he recorded during a July 2005 demonstration in San Francisco, California. Wolf served 226 days in prison at the Federal Correctional Institution, Dublin, California, nearly longer than any other journalist in U.S. history has served for protecting source materials. After Wolf released his video outtakes to the public, U.S. District Judge William Alsup ordered his release on April 3, 2007. In 2007, Wolf ran for mayor of San Francisco against incumbent Gavin Newsom (finishing in 8th place with about 1 percent of the vote). The next year Wolf accepted a position at the Palo Alto Daily Post where he reported on the San Mateo County government and that of several cities within the county. In 2011, Wolf graduated from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and his thesis film Police Tape received the Reva and David Logan Prize for Excellence in Investigative Reporting.

Wolf finished in 8th place with 1.24% of votes cast.