Keith Gessen, the novelist, n+1 co-founder, and man about culture, was arrested at this morning’s Occupy Wall Street protest, along with fellow editors and writers from Gessen’s literary journal and Dissent magazine. “Our political system is broken, our politicians get to Washington and they don’t do what we ask them to do,” Gessen said, while sitting on the ground in cuffs. At The Awl, Choire Sicha writes of that group, “They were not engaged in reporting per se, but in demonstrating. But where do reporting and demonstrating diverge?” Sicha lists 26 reporters arrested at Occupy Wall Street so far, including staff from the New York Times, NPR, and the AP, and notes, “Some work for traditional ‘objective’ news organizations; others work for ‘non-objective’ news organizations, like Alternet and Indypendent Reader.” Josh Stearns is tracking journalist arrests around the country here. The NYPD puts the total arrest number on the day so far at 177. Below, see a video of Gessen giving a winning grin before being dragged away.
