NPPA Warns Photojournalists About Police Plans For Pittsburgh's G20 Summit
DURHAM, NC (September 23, 2009) – The National Press Photographers Association is warning photojournalists who will be covering the upcoming G20 Summit in Pittsburgh, PA, to be aware that local law enforcement has stated that the media will be "treated no differently than the public" when they issue an order to disperse.
In other words, photojournalists are just as eligible for arrest as anyone else on the streets, including protesters and other civilians.
The G20 Summit will be held at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center on September 24 and 25, 2009.
According to NPPA president Bob Carey, the organization has reached out to law enforcement agencies who are involved preparing for the event, which brings the leaders of the world's top economic countries to the United States to discuss the current economic crisis and examine ways to stimulate the global economy.
“I’m concerned that we may see some of the same unfortunate blanket arrests of legitimate journalists covering a news event," Carey said, referring to last year's arrests and pepper spraying of journalists who were covering the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis, MN.
“I've asked our legal counsel, Mickey Osterreicher, to make contact with the law enforcement agencies and to try to work to prevent the type of response that occurred at the RNC last year.”
Osterreicher sent eMails and has telephoned representatives of the Pittsburgh Police Department, the U.S. Secret Service, and the FBI, voicing NPPA’s concern about the treatment of visual journalists and offering to act as ombudsman and photographers' liaison for the Summit.
“NPPA was hoping to establish a dialogue with law enforcement regarding media coverage of the G20, meeting but unfortunately they declined to engage in an extended discussion,” Osterreicher said.
“One of our goals in offering to operate as an ombudsman and liaison for the law enforcement agencies was to help educate them on ways to deal with journalists in a difficult crowd control situation,” Carey added.
The Summit has been classified as a National Special Security Event. Security will be coordinated by the Secret Service working in conjunction with Pittsburgh police. It is estimated that 4,000 police officers have been requested, and the city currently only has 900 police officers.
In his communication from the Secret Service, Osterreicher did receive an encouraging note that they would do their “best to provide the media with information that will assist them in providing coverage of the event and also keep them from harms way if ... the media choose to follow law enforcement directions.”
The Summit is expected to draw protestors involved in peace, environmental, labor, and social justice organizations. The Pittsburgh G-20 Resistance Project has said they plan to hold a march and a day of direct action on the first day of the Summit. On the second day, a Peoples' March and rally in downtown Pittsburgh is scheduled.
NPPA members can send eMail to Carey at president@nppa.org to report problems or request help during the Summit. Both Carey and Osterreicher will be on call to attempt to deal with any immediate needs of members, they said today.
“I am hopeful that we will not be needed and that cooler heads will prevail on all sides, thus avoiding any confrontational situations,” Osterreicher said.
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