Archive Page 77

News Photographer Sues Oakland PD

Published June 3, 2010 Assault , Photographers' Rights , Police Harassment 1 Comment
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A former news cameraman for the Bay Area’s KGO-TV (the ABC affiliate) is suing the Oakland Police Department after several officers assaulted him in 2009. Douglas Laughlin was outside Highland Hospital trying to film an ambulance carrying a wounded officer when several officers attacked him and broke his camera. (See the video for  the angry mob of officers shoving Laughlin, threatening him with arrest for “interfering with a crime scene,” and trying to tear his battery pack, among other things.)

Police officials say emotions were running high and that explains their behavior; it was the deadliest day in Oakland PD history with four officers killed on the job. But Laughlin was on a public sidewalk covering a big news story, and trying to block and/or physically impair the media does nothing productive. In fact, the only thing they achieved was a big, fat lawsuit and years of headaches.

I get police have a difficult job, and that was a tragic day for their department. What I don’t get is the uncontrolled rage and flagrant disregard for the law that officers like this display. It gives all police officers a bad name.

Article from San Francisco Chronicle

Photographers’ Rights Progress

Published June 2, 2010 Photographers' Rights 2 Comments
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Two positive developments today for photographers’/media rights:

• ŸThe City of Toledo will pay an undisclosed settlement and change their media policies in response to a civil rights lawsuit brought by two photographers. Jeffrey Sauger and Jim West were arrested in 2005 while covering a Nazi rally and counter-protest. Their lawyer noted that it’s very rare for a police department to revise its policies in response to a civil rights lawsuit, so it was a significant win.

The photographers agreed to take a lesser monetary settlement in exchange for the policy change, which: says that the police must recognize all legitimate media at public events, dictates how officers interact with media, and establishes that police are prohibited from erasing any images on media cameras. [National Press Photographers Association]

• In April, we posted on how Virginia state officials illegally stormed the newsroom of James Madison University’s student newspaper, The Daily Breeze, and seized photos relating to a party-turned-melee. After much outrage and legal action, the state has agreed to pay the school’s legal fees, totalling $10,000. The Commonwealth’s attorney, Marsha Garst, even admitted she was wrong in her approach and has committed to obtaining search warrants in the future. (Which, really, is not so much a concession as an avowal to follow the law. Duh.)

Frank LoMonte of the Student Press Law Center, said, “The fact that the government is going to have to pay $10,000 is a meaningful sting. That sting ought to send a message to anyone trying to cut corners on the Privacy Protection Act.” [Waynesboro News Virginian]

LAPD Unlawfully Detains Photographer

Published June 1, 2010 Harassment , Photographers' Rights , Photojournalism , Police , Police Harassment , Street photography 42 Comments
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The above video was recorded on February 21, 2010 in Hollywood, CA. As you will see from the footage, the officer’s behavior is deeply disturbing and should cause alarm within the Los Angeles Police Department.

And despite what the officer claims in the video, it is completely legal to photograph and videotape anybody, including police officers, when an expectation of privacy does not exist. It is the public’s right to photograph and record police activity that occurs on our streets and in our neighborhoods, and we should not be subjected to verbal assaults, illegal detainment, or threatened with an unlawful arrest if we choose to do so.

This encounter could have been a non-issue.

To voice your concerns regarding this officer’s behavior, contact the following individuals and offices:

Internal Affairs – Los Angeles Police Department
304 South Broadway, Suite 215
Los Angeles, CA 90013
Office: 213-485-1486
Fax: 213-473-6420

Antonio Villaraigosa, Mayor of Los Angeles
Email: mayor@lacity.org

Eric Garcetti, City Council President
5500 Hollywood Blvd., 4th Floor
Hollywood, CA 90028
Phone: 323-957-4500
Email: councilmember.garcetti@lacity.org

Tom LaBonge, Councilmember, District 4
Hollywood Field Office
6501 Fountain Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90028
Phone: (323) 957-6415
Email: councilmember.labonge@lacity.org

Photographer Harassed, Detained at DC Airport

Published June 1, 2010 Photographers' Rights , Police Harassment 9 Comments
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Photo by Jerome Vorus

June 1st marks the day NPRO stands up for photographers’ rights, and for the past two years we’ve held a rally in Los Angeles where we’ve gathered to assert our right to shoot in public. So stand up and be counted…or stand up and shoot in your own city, and if you’re stopped and harassed just remember your rights.

And now, in honor of the day, another incident in the annals of clashes between photographers and authorities….

In March, 18-year-old and photographer Jerome Vorus was taking photos at Reagan National Airport in Virginia because that’s what he likes to do. Knowing the airport was a sensitive location, he spoke to a media relations representative beforehand and asked about any restrictions. He was told there were none. He and  the representative went over which areas were leased by private companies (like the check-in counters) and she said she would notify airport police and TSA officials.

Still, the message didn’t seem to get through. As Vorus shot photos, TSA employees approached him twice and asked what he was doing. The third time, he was approached by TSA in suits who asked whether he’d spoken with media relations. Even though Vorus told them he had, they said he could not take photos of TSA employees or checkpoints. To clarify, so that he could understand the situation he was in more fully, Vorus asked the men if he could see their credentials. One man replied, “We ain’t gotta show you shit.” Vorus pressed because he knew they are required by law, and so they did. It turns out they were Department of Homeland Security officers, and when Vorus asked if he was being detained he was told no. Things got heated and there was some back and forth over being detained versus being free to go.

Ultimately Vorus was told he was being detained and he would be arrested for disorderly conduct. His camera was taken and photos were deleted. And then, when all was said and done, he was free to go. Afterward Vorus filed a complaint with the airport authority’s internal affairs and received a letter a few weeks ago that acknowledged the officer did violate policy. TSA has not gotten back to him about the complaint filed with them.

The thing is, friction naturally occurs when law enforcement officers very badly want some trouble and an innocent person knows his rights are being violated. That is a predictable clash, and it happens all the time — but it doesn’t have to.

Article from Vorus Blog

Photojournalism’s Online Options

Published May 31, 2010 Photojournalism 1 Comment
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True, in this fast-changing digitally-oriented world, there might not be a lot of print outlets left that showcase great photography, but there are quite a few great online sites.

Photographer Michael Coyne posted recently on the Black Star Rising blog that, in terms of photojournalism today, “the story is not only one of doom and gloom.” He thinks there are plenty of opportunities out there, and he says he likes being able to travel through the world via the internet. Here are his favorites:

VII The Magazine
The Digital Journalist
RVM
Life
SocialDocumentary.net
Time
The 37th Frame
Positive Magazine

Article from Black Star Rising

Photos From the Front Line

Published May 29, 2010 Photojournalism 1 Comment
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Photo by Reynaldo Leal

Marine Reynaldo Leal served in Iraq for two tours. He says he was never without three things: his rifle, his combat helmet and his Canon 20D. The interesting thing about modern war, he notes, is that all the soldiers have a camera now. So while the restrictions imposed by the military means we might not be getting the iconic images of Vietnam, we get a different view from the people actually fighting on the front lines.

CNN.com did a mini documentary on Leal and his camera here, and he gives some insight into photographing war.

You can see more of Leal’s work here.

Photographer Roughed Up in iPad Fray

Published May 28, 2010 Photographers' Rights , Photojournalism , Security Guard Harassment Leave a Comment
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Alan Pryke, a news photographer with The Australian newspaper, arrived at Sydney’s flagship Apple store today to document the much-anticipated launch of the iPad. But when the Apple crew showed up, they set up front and center, ignoring the protocol that the first media outlets there are the ones that get the best position. Pryke protested and tried to reclaim his spot, when security intervened and grabbed him by the shirt and shoved him. The situation was soon resolved, and the security firm apologized later for the incident.

Pryke plans to write a letter to a letter to Apple, which I’m sure will go straight to the top and be addressed immediately.

Article from The Australian

NYC Doorman K.O.’s Photographer

Published May 28, 2010 Assault , Photographers' Rights , Security Guard Harassment 5 Comments
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Screen grab: Gawker

One New York City doorman takes his job really seriously — so seriously he punched out photographer Tim Wiencis outside an Upper East Side building for trying to get a shot of  the wife of latest Ponzi scheme mastermind Ken Starr. The doorman was arrested for assault.

It should be noted that Wiencis was on a public sidewalk covering a news event as part of his job, and the doorman was certainly out of line — inexplicably resorting to violence to protect…what? A very possible criminal who lives in his building. It doesn’t seem worth it.

Article from New York Daily News (via Gawker)

BP’s Photo Clampdown

Published May 27, 2010 Photographers' Rights , Photojournalism 7 Comments
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Rescued sea turtle. Photo by Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries

It’s official: The BP oil spill is now bigger than that other catastrophic disaster, 1989’s Exxon Valdez, and the worst in US history. And as you might expect in the nefarious, super-connected, high stakes world of Big Oil, there are a lot of people who don’t want the full calamity of that known and reported on.

So local and federal officials, under orders from BP no doubt, are trying to restrict where photojournalists can go. We posted on this earlier in the week, when a CBS News crew encountered some Coast Guard officers and BP contractors who threatened them with arrest if they didn’t leave the oil-covered shoreline.

Not surprisingly, it wasn’t a one-time occurence. A Mother Jones’ reporter wrote about his own account of coming up against local officials while trying to survey the scene at Elmer’s Island Wildlife Refuge (he was told BP’s in charge because “it’s BP’s oil”).  And in a Newsweek piece that runs down the restrictions on press coverage,  they mention a Times-Picayune photojournalist whose flyover of the affected areas was canceled once BP officials got wind of it.

“It’s a running joke among the journalists covering the story that the words ‘Coast Guard’ affixed to any vehicle, vessel, or plane should be prefixed with ‘BP,’ ” says Charlie Varley, a Louisiana-based photographer. “It would be funny if it were not so serious.”

Unfortunately BP’s efforts are futile. There is no damage control in a situation that’s already bad beyond belief. They would do more to burnish their image by appearing to be willing and accommodating with every effort that’s being made to cover and control the spill.

Article from Newsweek

Oil Spill Photos Reveal Tragic Scene

Published May 26, 2010 Photojournalism 1 Comment
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The images keep coming, and they’re getting more and more depressing. While at first the BP oil spill was just an intangible leak out in the middle of the water, now there are sharks and sea turtles washing up dead and dragonflies and herons soaked in oil.

BP CEO Tony Hayward says he’s devastated, but it’s hard to imagine his life will really be all that affected by this. He still gets to go home at night and count his bags of cash, with no threat of losing his job, money or well-being. You know what’s really devastated? The Gulf Coast of the U.S.

· See the Boston Globe Big Picture blog’s photo essay here.
· See a Yahoo News photo collection here.
· See TreeHugger reporter Brian Merchant’s coverage, both still photos and video, here.

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