Riots and Reporters - what I’ve learned about covering potentially dangerous incidents
Omar Jimenez from CNN being arrested live on air in Minnesota - courtesy of CNN
Let’s start by saying that as a business and economics journalist, it means I don't face that many violent incidents. Often the biggest threat I have faced in my day to day job as getting a rotten hors d'oeuvre or warm Sauvignon Blanc at a plush reception or that the weather might be bad outside at the live point from a gathering of bigwigs or the sandwiches at a G20 summit might be a bit curly.
I am not even in the same sport as those brave men and women who literally get shot at as they try to convey what it’s like in an actual war - as opposed to a verbal war which might ensure in my line of work. Indeed a friend of mine Simon Cumbers lost his life filming with Frank Gardner in Saudi Arabia in 2004
Having said all that, I have been punched, kicked, shoved, egged, bricked, bottled, tear gassed, spat on, thrown out, locked in, locked out and of course........laughed at throughout my 20 years in business journalism.
Again, I've been lucky. I’m a white man who can defend himself verbally and if required physically. My friend and colleague Sima Kotecha had to cancel a live broadcast on BBC One when a man decided to allegedly racially abuse her in the Midlands because, well, she was a small BAME woman and he felt like it. He’s now been charged.
Of course what they don't teach you in journalism school is what you should say if someone dodgy sidles up to you and your crew in the middle of filming something and drunkenly asks ‘whatcha filming mate?’
You should definitely NOT tell them that you work for the BBC and you are about to go live in front of an audience of millions. That way you’ll never get rid of your new found friend. He - and alas it’s nearly always a ‘he’ - might drift out of shot for a few minutes and wait like an inebriated lion in the Savannah for when he can see you're clearly on air and mid flow, before pouncing with some useless expletives or simply waving his arms like a moron in the background.
The correct response and the only way to get rid of unwanted voyeurs out on the street is to say you're with a college or university and this filming is merely a training video for students. Watch how fast he disappears or seeks newer and bigger thrills elsewhere.
These people rarely watch BBC business news so it’s all but impossible that they might recognise you and disbelieve that it’s a training exercise.
Swiss riot squad facing anti capitalism protests in 2003
I remember covering the anti capitalism protests at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland when a well marshalled group of protesters decided to attack the police around 2km from the congress centre in Davos. It was a futile exercise but designed - as most of these things tend to be - for TV news. They know that we’ll cover it and they know there has to be action to guarantee that it will be broadcast ergo ‘if it bleeds, it leads’
We were well behind the police in full riot gear as well as a water cannon. So we thought we were safe. But when the bottles and stones started raining down from above, I grabbed my cameraman and beat a retreat. A cracked skull was not reason enough to get a few ‘shots’ which the stills photographers would get anyway. BTW many cameramen (and again most often they are men) are strangely drawn to disorder and potential trouble. They secretly love the buzz of it. If i’m honest i do a little bit as well. Crews always look up to their colleagues who film in real war zones and as such when the war zone comes to them, they are happy to get much closer than their security advisers would ehem, advise.
I have never been arrested nor threatened with arrest. British and irish police officers tend to simply shout at you in clear terms: STAND BACK or GET OUT OF THE F***ING WAY.
I usually get the hint.
FIN
