As Jeremy Dear, General Secretary of the National Union of Journalists, has warned this is nothing more than a “fishing trip” by the Met which could have very serious consequences for the integrity and safety of all journalists covering future protests. If the BBC, as a public service broadcaster, genuinely aspires to impartial coverage of these events it is imperative that it does not pressure its journalists into the role of police intelligence gatherers and proxies.
BBC Management should now issue a public statement mounting a strong defence of the confidentiality of its journalists’ material and sources and assure the public that it will not collaborate with police surveillance in this way.
Updates
April 6, 2011
I honestly never thought this would gain this much steam but here we are and it feels like people are finally waking up to the danger of the BBC becoming a branch of the police force. It is wild to see so many people agreeing that journalism should be independent because if we lose that line then we lose the whole point of having reporters on the ground.
Reached 100 supporters
April 6, 2011
6 Comments
If the bbc start handing over footage nobody is going to trust them at protests anymore. Total madness.
Disgusting. The BBC is supposed to be neutral not an intelligence agency for the gov
journalists need to stay independent or else they are just targets. dont give them the tape!
The met needs to stop fishing for info and start doing their own investigating. Leave our reporters alone.
This is ridiculous. Journalists are there to report not to do the polices job for them. Keep the footage private.
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As Jeremy Dear, General Secretary of the National Union of Journalists, has warned this is nothing more than a “fishing trip” by the Met which could have very serious consequences for the integrity and safety of all journalists covering future protests. If the BBC, as a public service broadcaster, genuinely aspires to impartial coverage of these events it is imperative that it does not pressure its journalists into the role of police intelligence gatherers and proxies.
BBC Management should now issue a public statement mounting a strong defence of the confidentiality of its journalists’ material and sources and assure the public that it will not collaborate with police surveillance in this way.
Updates
April 6, 2011
I honestly never thought this would gain this much steam but here we are and it feels like people are finally waking up to the danger of the BBC becoming a branch of the police force. It is wild to see so many people agreeing that journalism should be independent because if we lose that line then we lose the whole point of having reporters on the ground.
Reached 100 supporters
April 6, 2011
6 Comments
Since when did the beeb turn into the long arm of the law?? stop this now
If the bbc start handing over footage nobody is going to trust them at protests anymore. Total madness.
Disgusting. The BBC is supposed to be neutral not an intelligence agency for the gov
journalists need to stay independent or else they are just targets. dont give them the tape!
The met needs to stop fishing for info and start doing their own investigating. Leave our reporters alone.
This is ridiculous. Journalists are there to report not to do the polices job for them. Keep the footage private.
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Since when did the beeb turn into the long arm of the law?? stop this now