Tulane Dean and former Prosecutor Hysterically Confronts Journalists

“You are a nasty, little, cowardly spud. You are scum. Do you understand?“

That’s what former U.S. Attorney Jim Letten screamed at my colleagues and me while attacking us. Spud, by the way, is a derogatory term towards an Irishman.

It wasn’t just Mr. Letten. The Columbia School of Journalism, New York University, The Bergen Record and others all called the police on us for walking up with a film crew and asking a question.

With the DOJ attempting to jail journalists and the continued discussion about a selectively enforced shield law,the question of what constitutes journalism is more important than ever.

Yet so few are willing to answer that question. Why?

Perhaps Gavin McInnes, co-founder of Vice, said it best, “Journalism should be about taking risks. But they all seem so scared and they all seem so determined to do what they’re told … to toe the company line.”