DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum DC Police arrest journalist at public meeting.

I am glad I am leaving the journalism field. it's no longer safe.

apparently, the police arrested a man for videotaping a public (not special or executive session-like) meeting. The man was a reporter. That being said, we don't know the whole side of the story.

to truly be fair, we don't know if:
1) he was being rude/disruptive
2) there were specific exceptions to the public meeting rule and he didn't know/ignore them that disallowed video at this particular meeeting
3) it's a vendetta of some kind and he had antagonized the PD before. Police can be political as journalists. (political in the sense of who you know vs. liberal/conservative/etc.)

so it's not as easy as journalist good, cops bad.

if you're in journalism, get out. if you're thinking about doing it and you're in college, switch to pr/marketing/biz/communications or a STEMM career (science technology math medical)

journalist story

Reason’s Jim Epstein was arrested after a meeting of the D.C. Taxi Commission yesterday, following his filming of the arrest of journalist, Pete Tucker, at the same meeting. Tucker’s crime? Snapping a still photo of the proceedings on his camera phone. Here’s Epstein’s account of what happened next:

A few minutes later, as I was attempting to leave the building, I overheard the female officer who had arrested Tucker promise a woman, who I presumed to be an employee of the Taxi Commission, that she would confiscate my phone. Reason intern Kyle Blaine, overheard her say, "Do you want his phone? I can get his phone."

(The woman who was given assurances by the officer that she could have my phone can be seen at the end of the video telling me, "You do not have permission to record this!")

As I tried to leave, I was told by the same officer to "stay put." I told her I was leaving and attempted to exit the building. I was then surrounded by officers, and told to remain still or I would be arrested.

I didn’t move, but I tried to get the attention of a group of cab drivers who were standing nearby. At this point I was arrested.

I spent the remainder of the day in a cell in the basement of the building. In the late afternoon, I was released.

Are journalists no longer allowed to take pictures or videos at public meetings? What exactly is the D.C. Taxi Commission attempting to keep under wraps at this public meeting?

For the life of me, I can’t understand how this is either legal or – in any sense of the word – a smart thing to do. At least not in the age of camera phones that can upload videos to the internet.

I have no love for the media as it is today.. none.

Everything his overblown,, All hype,, all sensationalism..

So few media types today are in it to tell the truth.. all they want to do is build something/someone up so they can later rip them apart.

There is no more honesty.. Listen to anything on a Murdock own Radio or Cable channel and it's DEMS BAD, REPS GOOD.. Nothing in between

By the same token, Listen to NBC (as an example) it's REPS BAD, DEMS GOOD..

JMO,, I could honestly care less about reporters as a whole. There are a few I like,, But few,,. VERY FEW

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if you're in journalism, get out.

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why?

The camera is pretty neutral as a medium. I don't know why you have a problem with it.

After editing, yes it can be a problem. But raw footage should be mandatory for all of these government meetings.

This post is so incredibly irrelevant. The issue has nothing to do with media overhyping everything. It has everything to do with first amendment rights being taken away. If that isn't a problem with you, then you are beyond hope.

First amendment.....what a joke.

The Bill of Rights is pretty much a joke anymore too......and its increasingly becoming less and less funny.

Regardless of any of the circumstances, I think its incredibly pompous of this Mr. Epstein to adopt the stance of "don't think about doing anything to me or I'll upload a video of it to the Internet!"

jc...

I also don't believe that this is a First Amendment issue. No lawmaking body has enacted a law barring anybody's free speech. It's certainly within the rights of any party, government or otherwise, to prohibit camera recording or still photography at an event if they deem it necessary, in my opinion at least.

That said, I'll save my personal judgment on the matter until if and when I get more information. Were either of these arrested individuals on the premises with a media credential? Were they, as the OP stated, being boisterous or otherwise disruptive in their presence? There are simply too many details that we don't have that we should before passing a decisive judgment.

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I have no love for the media as it is today.. none

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Ed Murrow is rolling in his grave to be sure. Good solid NEWS reporting is all but dead. You can get some good stuff on NPR from time to time believe it or not. The Christian Science Monitor has some good articles as well.

The problem with the media is that news stories are really news features. The feature part allows the writer to impart interpretation and that is often skewed to one side of the idiocy meter or the other.

Another problem really is the internet. The immediacy of blogs, twitter and video/story postings cause the mainstream media to be more immediate and overlook common sense. I watched CNN and they were using tweets from "Twitter Name" as a newsource. I mean really.

As for this article. You can't videotape police anymore, there are a wealth of stories detailing incidences. There is some legal wranglings over the privacy of cell phones and the use of warrants. Hell, warrants . . . that word will soon be relegated to the ashtray of history.

And true enough, every right has it's caveats' we just don't know how and where to place them anymore.

this is your comment that I objected too

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If that isn't a problem with you, then you are beyond hope.

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I don't think it's a fair statement in light of my explaination of my feeling towards the media in general..,But you jumped the shark...

And yeah, you do that to everyone..

I think it's an incredibly fair statement. Without the media, you have no idea what is going on around the world. You may not like them, but you depend on them. There are plenty of ... reporters who do terrible jobs, but it doesn't eliminate the importance they have in society.

Asiasdawg,
After looking at your video tape, there are some things that need to come out. First - those are US Park Police not DC Police. Why they were at some DC Taxi Commission meeting must have been due to where the meeting was being held( maybe some Fed Building). 2 - I will provide a link from the Wash Post that alleges that the reporter was being disruptive with his mic. 3- There is a law in DC that allows taping of Public meetings but Commissions might not be covered.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dc-w...OBehH_blog.html

This incident might not be as bad as it seems due to the gray area of the law. Now there is a incident in Rochester that I think should scare people more.