Patagonia made national headlines this past month after a YouTube video of an incident between Town Marshall Joseph Patterson and resident Hilde Kate Lysiak went viral. First covered by the Nogales International on Feb. 21, the story received national coverage from the Washington Post on Feb. 22, 2019 and has sparked a conversation about social media and law enforcement.
Twelve-year-old Lysiak, a self-published journalist, has been reporting since she was nine. She garnered national attention in the past for breaking the story of a murder in her Pennsylvania neighborhood. She currently publishes her reporting on a website she manages, Orange Street News (OSN).
On Feb. 18 she posted a video and an article about her encounter with Marshall Patterson. This story was quickly picked up by other news outlets, gaining thousands of views overnight. As of this writing, the Youtube video has been viewed 435,701 times and has 1204 comments.
In her written report of the incident Lysiak alleges that the Marshall “threatened the reporter with arrest unless she stopped reporting the news.” In the video Marshal Patterson tells Lysiak that it is illegal for her to put his face on Youtube without his consent, although it is, in fact, legal to video a police officer while he is on duty. He also warns Lysiak to not follow him. Lysiak questions the Marshal about what she is doing that is illegal.
Currently we do not have any corroborating sources for what happened before Lysiak began to record the Marshal. The Town of Patagonia released a statement that they have taken disciplinary action against the Marshall but that the town has the right to not reveal the exact nature of it. Lysiak was not available for comment.
Local responses to the video ranged from “This isn’t news. This new world we live in, what a joke,” “Stupid kid, the police officer was looking out for the kid’s safety” to “You go, girl.” “Thank you, Hilde for your bravery…You rock. Keep up the good work.”
So why did this video garner so much attention? Well, everyone likes a good David and Goliath story, the original underdog tale, and a spunky little girl standing up to an authority figure has great emotional appeal. And in these times, when the press is feeling threatened by the powers that be, it is affirming to think that a reporter stood her ground and shined a light on what could be viewed as an abuse of power.
Patterson has been the center of controversy in the past. His detractors are now calling for the town to fire him. “Joe Patterson is not a nice man…I think he should be ousted,” one email received by the PRT read. His supporters view this incident as “ridiculous’” as one Facebook contributor labelled it.
But did this video merit so much attention that Patagonia residents are now having trouble getting through to the Marshall’s office to report problems?
Should law enforcement personnel be held to a high standard of conduct? Absolutely. Should we vigorously defend the freedom of the press? Absolutely. Had the Marshall threatened the young girl with detention? Maybe. He neither confirms or denies that in the video. Did he falsely tell her that filming him was illegal? Yes. Did the town officials discipline him? Yes.
Did she lie to him about where she was going? Maybe. Did he have the right to demand to know where she was going? Maybe not. What went on at their earlier encounter? We don’t know. Does the Marshall have a history of intimidation? Maybe. Does Lysiak have a history of following law enforcement to crime scenes? We don’t know. Has she put herself in danger or compromised any law enforcement scenes? We don’t know. That’s a lot of “maybes” and “we don’t knows.”
The internet and smart phone technology has become an increasingly large part of media coverage. This is a double-edged sword. They have played an undeniably important role in social movements around the world. They are spontaneous, able to collect footage as a witness to an event, are independent, and are able to reach millions of people through the Internet.
On the other hand, citizen journalists may not necessarily abide to any code of ethics, an editor is not fact-checking their news, and some of the news can be misleading and inaccurate, sometimes with dire consequences.
In the end, the hope is that both Lysiak and Patterson may have learned something from this experience and that people in Patagonia who are trying to get help when a rabid skunk, a feral cat or a mountain lion wanders through their yard can finally get through to the Marshall’s office