US sees over 400 attacks on press freedom in under a month — but why? Police have targeted journalists on live TV during the George Floyd protests. Courtney Radsch of the Committee to Protect Journalists talks about what's behind this development and what it could mean for the world

submitted by ua2 from dw.com

all 2 comments
sorted by:
top
newinsightfulfun

[–]zyxzevn 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I have seen "journalists" mixed up with violent rioters. They are sometimes involved in the riots and provide cover for rioters and sometimes/often produce fake news or stage news to make a certain party appear bad. Which means that each of these cases should be taken separately.

I also have seen real journalists being attacked by protesters, while these journalists are just neutral.

Since almost nobody has been protesting for a journalist who is still in prison in the UK, it is clear that this is mostly about nonsense and not really about journalism.

[–]Feldheld 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

but why?

I tell you why:
1. journalists are the main dealers for the incitement of collective hatred, especially hatred against police. They are directly responsible for much of the mob violence police get exposed to.
2. journalists are always drawn to where the most action is in a "protest", the more violence the more journalists you will see. When the action starts you can often see more journalists than participants. So of course journalists are prone to get mixed up with the actors when police comes in.
3. journalists often directly incite violence or stage fake action
4. journalists that mingle with protests always take sides against police, often obstruct the police

TLDR: half it's occupational hazard, half it's because everybody hates journalists with good reason