BRATTLEBORO, Vt. (WCAX) – Freedom of the press is on the agenda at Tuesday night’s Brattleboro Selectboard meeting stemming from the work of a local independent journalist.
For nearly three years, Hank Poitras has been reporting on Brattleboro’s daily emergency calls and arrests under the name “Planet Hank.”
Poitras says his work is to shine a light on problems to make positive change. “I film crime. I don’t control where the police scanner sends me. I don’t go looking for somebody,” Poitras said. “And I really like it here, and I want to see it get better. I feel like our towns and communities are sick.”
But not everyone likes what Planet Hank highlights. Some feel he’s exploiting members of his own community for clicks.
“I just feel like he is preying on the vulnerable,” said local resident Mary Grove. “I don’t feel like it is good to shame people, and that is what I see going on.”
At least one business owner has asked town officials to consider adopting an ordinance to create a perimeter for all media at active police scenes, regardless of whether it’s in a public space.
Justin Silverman, executive director of the New England First Amendment Coalition, said such ordinances face constitutional challenges. “If they are passed at all, they are very quickly challenged and usually found unconstitutional,” Silverman said. “The right to record, the right to document what is going on in our communities, isn’t just a right for journalists, it’s a right for all of us.”
Bill Holiday of Dummerston said the controversial videos document real problems in the community. “All of those things are here, and they are real problems. And frankly, having grown up here over the years, you didn’t see that kind of thing when I was a kid,” Holiday said.
No official action is expected at the meeting. Rather, it is a chance for the public to express their concerns and to hear feedback from town officials.
