7/28/2019 Editor Aaron Krowne Character Letter Teri Buhl

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/editor-aaron-krowne-character-letter-teri-buhl 1/2

Aaron Krowne

14525 SW Millikan Way #9599

Beaverton, OR 97005

Honorable William J. Wenzel

Connecticut Superior Court, Stamford/Norwalk District

Civil and Criminal Division123 Hoyt Street

Stamford, CT 06905

April 3, 2013

Your Honor,

I write with urgent concern upon learning that trusted colleague Teri Buhl has been convicted of “Harassment” and “Breach of Peace” in the pending case S20N-CR10-0127478S. I agree with

defense counsel (based upon my admittedly still in-progress law school education) that these charges

are not supported by the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt, and that this deficiency necessitates

acquittal. However, I can add nothing original to defense counsel's apt arguments to this effect. WhatI can more uniquely contribute to the court's understanding are in terms of Ms. Buhl's professional

integrity and the import of this verdict, if left to stand, to journalism in general.

I am the founder, since 2007, of ML-Implode.com and a number of “sister” sites, collectively the

“Implode-o-Meter” or (“Implode”), which provided groundbreaking coverage on the subprime,

mortgage and global financial crises. My small, independent “media network” has been globally-renowned, and has racked up over 50 million web site visits. From the early days of Implode, I have

collaborated and contracted with Ms. Buhl to provide original investigative coverage in particular areas

concerning the financial economy and various individuals', companies' and funds' relation to the

financial crisis, as well as general unsoundness which might necessitate enforcement or policy reform.

Ms. Buhl has proven herself to be a hard-nosed investigative journalist of the classic type, of which

there are lamentably too few today. We are now in an era where such original reporting, whichgenuinely “speaks truth to power,” points fingers and “names names” is nearly impossible to do under 

the umbrella of a major media company. Despite lacking the safety and comfort of such a “brick and

mortar” panoply, complete with in-house counsel, Ms. Buhl has been undeterred, bravely publishingher work on her own news site at www.teribuhl.com, and with small and independent internet media

 publications such as Implode and trade publications.

This case (if let stand) illustrates the mortal risk to one's safety, well-being, and ability to do one's

 journalistic job, that lies in striking out on one's own to do the sort of real investigative reporting that

our society so sorely needs. Here, despite the court's not having eliminated the perfectly plausible

explanation that Ms. Buhl is protecting a confidential source on an important matter of public concern,she now finds herself facing jail time. All this for invoking a long-recognized pillar of journalistic

 privilege.

I, and the others who have helped produce the Implode-o-Meter, are intimately familiar with this this

 precise issue. In 2008, Implode was sued by a New Hampshire mortgage company called The

7/28/2019 Editor Aaron Krowne Character Letter Teri Buhl

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/editor-aaron-krowne-character-letter-teri-buhl 2/2

Mortgage Specialists, for an anonymous post and leaked loan volume data. We refused to agree to a

take-down of the information, and more critically, refused to give up the anonymous sources. Despite

an initial contrary order by the New Hampshire trial court, the New Hampshire Supreme Court

ultimately sided with us on all points of merit, agreeing that implicated were not only free speech but journalistic privilege, and further, that an online/independent outlet such as ours still qualified for 

 journalistic protection (see The Mortgage Specialists v. Implode-Explode Heavy Industries, New

Hampshire, 2010).

From this, and other similar cases Implode has fought, I am highly attuned to the threat of litigation

regarding speech, which purports to be about defamation, trade secrets, or some other charge (e.g.harassment), but is actually about suppressing the speech or attempting to “get to” an anonymous

source through the site/publisher. I can attest that failing to quash this sort of legal action at the

earliest possible stage has an acute chilling effect on free speech and journalism, as the costs and risksof being enjoined can make it impossible to go forward with publishing a story simply because it might

“upset someone” (who might have the resources to file suit). This can effect not only the target of the

litigation, but others who observe the consequences of speaking said “truth to power,” leading to less

honest coverage of important public issues, thus diminishing the public discourse.

Further, with today's constrained budgets, now more than ever the public and the government are

relying on whistleblowers to come forward with information on illegality and wrongdoing. This maynot only be through formal whistleblower programs (see the SEC and IRS's recent “beefed-up”

 programs, as well as the Dodd-Frank legislation), but also by going straight to the press, when no

 program is available or the government does not act adequately (or needs to be “shamed” into acting by publication). It is critical in these situations that the anonymity of the whistleblower-informant be

 protected, at least until the issue can be resolved through enforcement or policy, or the personal threat

to the informant be removed, or otherwise the undue risk to them passes.

This court should not contribute further to the chilling of free speech, critical hard-hitting investigative

 journalism, and socially-important whistleblowing by upholding Teri Buhl's conviction.

Sincerely,

Aaron Krowne

Founder, Publisher, “The Implode-o-Meter”

Juris Doctorate Candidate, New York Law School (2015)

(Stevens, Harlan, and Greenberg Scholar;2013 GSBF scholarship recipient)