3-25 IAN Ag-Gag Response

Sometimes when you cover a story as a reporter, you get caught in the middle. The ACLU has filed a lawsuit against states that want to have ag-gag laws. I went looking for answers as to what motivated them and ended up talking to Mercy for Animals media person Ari Solomon. He said this: "I am confounded by what people could say that would carve out special rights for an industry to protect itself so stringently. For example, if you owned a bakery, and I filmed you baking bread, I don't think anybody would have a problem with that. So it really does carve out special protections for this one industry. I don't know if anybody could say anything that would make me understand why this law is necessary."I went looking for an answer and got a pretty good one from Bob Naerebout, Executive Director of the Idaho Dairymens Association: "The basic premise is that this is a private property's rights. The question that should be asked is why should somebody be able to go on private property, whether that is your business or your home, and be able to film without your authorization. That's where it starts and that is where all of agriculture endorsed this bill as their bill. It is similar to you not being able to go into a theater and video a film. Similar to not being able to go into a plant like Chobani and just walk through the plant without being stopped. Similar to how going into a plant like Chobani you're not allowed to have a camera or a phone. It is just trying to provide agriculture the same rights that most citizens take for granted.