Joe Miller and journalist handcuffing incident

The article I chose to read is called "Miller responds to journalist-handcuffing incident". This article talks about The Alaska Dispatches editor-in-chief, Tony Hopfinger being handcuffed after trying to ask U.S. Senate candidate Joe Miller a question at a campaign event on Sunday. Just last week Miller said he would no longer answer questions about his past due to leaks to the media from his personal file claiming that he and his family received many of the benefits that he is against such as farm subsidies and Medicaid. The Alaska Dispatch was first to discover that Miller had accepted subsidies and are also among the many news organizations suing for Millers personal file from his last place of employment. Although this event was open to the public Miller's campaign had banned The Alaska Dispatch from being let into the event.

I think this incident is a good example of a journalist being a watchdog. Our textbook says "This is an adversarial relationship between the two parties, perhaps reflected in officials refusing to comment or be interviewed for a news story and reporters investigating what they perceive to be 'wrongdoing by officials" (70). Hopfinger was doing his job as a journalist watchdog and get to the bottom of Joe Millers accepting benefits. When he asked just one question he was handcuffed presumably because Miller did not want the public to know this about him. Miller is facing trespassing charges while the security at the event is facing charges of assault for handcuffing a journalist.