Will Potter: Investigative Journalist
In 2002, investigative journalist and TED Fellow Will Potter decided to
take a break from his regular beat, writing about shootings and murders
for the Chicago Tribune. He went to help a local group campaigning
against animal testing: "I thought it would be a safe way to do
something positive," he says. Instead, he was arrested, and so began his
ongoing journey into a world in which peaceful protest is branded as
terrorism.
Why you should listen
Independent journalist and TED Fellow Will Potter is based in Washington, D.C.; his current work examines how whistleblowers and non-violent protesters are being treated as terrorists.The author of Green Is The New Red: An Insider's Account of a Social Movement Under Siege, Potter has extensively documented how non-violent protest is slowly being criminalized. His reporting and commentary have been featured in the world's top media outlets, including the Washington Post, NPR, Rolling Stone, El Pais, and Le Monde. He has testified before the U.S. Congress about his reporting, as the only witness opposing the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act -- and he is a plaintiff in the first lawsuits challenging so-called "ag-gag" laws as unconstitutional.
Will has also lectured at many universities and public forums about his work, including Georgetown University, Harvard Law School, and the House of Democracy and Human Rights in Berlin. International speaking tours have included Germany, Austria, Switzerland, New Zealand, and Spain, and he was the international guest lecturer for Australia's 2014 animal law lecture series.
His reporting has overturned criminal prosecutions, and it has both been praised in Congressional reports and monitored by the Counter-Terrorism Unit.
What others say
"Will Potter unveils this complex movement with its virtues and its
flaws, the courage of a few and the false bravado of others. I see this
book as the definitive overview of the genesis of what is emerging as
the most important social movement in human history—the war to save
ourselves from ourselves." —
Captain Paul Watson, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
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