Dear Sir

The National Union of Journalists, London Photographers’ Branch notes with great concern the proposed introduction of new byelaws covering Trafalgar Square and Parliament Square. We are specifically concerned with the restrictions on press photography in these areas without prior written consent:

“Acts within the Square for which written permission is required: take photographs or film or make any other recordings of visual images for the purpose of or in connection with a business, trade, profession or employment or any activity carried on by a person or body of persons, whether corporate or unincorporate.”

This is wholly unacceptable to our members and we are protesting in the strongest terms against this infringement on our right to photograph in a public place.

We are also alarmed by the prospect of fines, “forfeiture of any item seized under bylaw” and giving security guards/heritage wardens the power to demand names and addresses. The production of a UKPCA press card should be sufficient to establish a journalists identity.

These GLA proposals are impractical and if enforced will have a massive impact on news gathering and press freedom. We urge you to consider our objections.

Yours Faithfully

Jess Hurd (London Photographers’ Branch Chair)

6pm sharp – NUJ Headland House – drinks and nibbles provided.

We will elect a new committee and two branch auditors. Any member is entitled to stand for committee, however to hold a post as branch officer you have to be a full member.

Positions for 2012

(A) A chair
(B) A vice-chair
(C) A secretary to keep the records and convene meetings.
(D) Membership Secretary assists members with union membership and recruitment.
(E) A treasurer to be responsible for the funds in the care of the branch and for keeping accounts. No treasurer shall be aged under 18.
(F) A welfare officer to care for the interests of sick members and their spouses and liaise with the NUJ Extra.
(G) An equality officer to promote equality issues and provide a focus for questions and complaints arising from the code of conduct.
(H) A union learning representative focuses on branch training and education.
(I) Web Editor co-ordinates content for the branch Website, Twitter and Facebook
(J) Legal Rep assists and supports members pursuing legal issues.
(K) Non Portfolio members assist and contribute, but with no specific role.

The committee would encourage members to think about how they can contribute to the branch, we are very happy to have job-shares for voluntary committee positions, absolutely no experience necessary, we are all learning on the job! Feel free to contact committee members for details.

Candidates standing as branch officers will be allowed to address the Branch meeting prior to the election for a maximum of five minutes and questions can be asked of any candidate.

We will also nominate our candidate for the brand new Photographers’ NEC Seat. This is a very important meeting, I urge all members to do their best to attend.

Thanks again to all the out-going committee for their hard work and commitment to the work of the branch. Also many thanks to all the NUJ full timers who have helped us campaign and assist our members tirelessly throughout the year.

Jess Hurd (LPB Branch Chair)

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Police officers block Jules's camera, dislodging a lens hood, during the incident. photo Jules Mattsson

The London Photographers’ Branch congratulates its member Jules Mattsson in winning his case against the actions of the Met police when he was covering an Armed Forces Day parade in Romford last year. Jules kept calm, recorded the incident and argued for his rights in an intimidating encounter with the police. During the encounter he was abused, assaulted and threatened under the Terrorism Act and falsely imprisoned. Jules was 15 at the time and a student but had the support of branch officials at the scene and the national union in successfully pursuing justice with the help of leading civil rights solicitor and friend of the NUJ, Chez Cotton.

NUJ Legal Officer Roy Mincoff said:

“This was very poor and unlawful behaviour by a senior police officer, trying to intimidate a young NUJ photographer. It is not acceptable conduct, has no place in the police force and is hardly likely to gain respect for the police amongst the youth of the UK. The police have now recognised this, apologised and compensated our member. The NUJ will continue to hold the police to account to ensure that the vital rights of journalists, enshrined in law, are upheld, to enable reporting and photographing to continue, as part of the democratic framework of our society.”

Read the full Bindmans statement:

Met Commissioner compensates journalist arrested for taking photographs in public place and told to stop “running round acting silly, being stupid and gay”

HQ to discuss a new agreement issued by the company. It insists on assignment of copyright, and included a clause that transfers the publisher’s full liability to the freelance. We are asking members not to sign.

The meeting will take place on Thursday, October 27 at Headland House,

308 Gray’s Inn Road, WC1X 8DP, beginning at 6pm.

Any freelance who is affected, or who might be affected, will be made welcome.

Please contact freelanceoffice@nuj.org.uk to let us know you wish to attend.

An NUJ members only event with Bindmans Solicitors

Date: Thursday 17 November 2011 Venue: 275 Gray’s Inn Road, London Time: 5.20 pm to 7.10 pm

Introduction

This free seminar organised by Bindmans LLP and the NUJ will explore the issues surrounding ‘a free press’ and the protection afforded to journalists in relation to the criminal justice system. It will offer practical guidance on police powers and investigations. Martin Rackstraw and Chez Cotton will discuss the relevant criminal law and civil law. The seminar will examine:

• Relevant legislation and recent changes
• Police powers of arrest and detention and search and seizure
• The investigation process, including police interviews under caution
• Civil claims against the police

Agenda

5.20 Registration, tea and coffee 5.35 Introduction from the chair, Najma Rasul 5.40 Criminal law presentation, Martin Rackstraw 6.00 Civil law presentation, Chez Cotton 6.20 Q and A 6.40 Buffet and continuation of discussions 7.10 Close

Who should attend?

The legal issues covered will be particularly relevant to photojournalists and political journalists, but any journalist who is in contact with the police will find the seminar helpful.

Your next steps

Places are limited for this free seminar and will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis so you are advised to reserve your place now. Please complete the booking form:

Police Powers seminar invitation.qxd

Following the recent riots across London and the UK, and the widening unrest and uprisings internationally, the September branch meeting will focus on “Public Order: Covering Volatile Situations Safely – Home and Abroad”.

An evening of photography, film and discussion with branch members experienced in covering public order situations nationally and internationally – we will look at preparation, planning, support, equipment, frontline behaviour, exit strategy and the tactics and weapons you will come into contact with.

The speakers will be Paul Mattsson, a veteran of covering international protest, Carmen Valino, local and international photographer who has covered the worst of the UK unrest in these recent years, and Jason N. Parkinson, video journalist covering protest and conflict, who was recently nominated news finalist in the 2011 Rory Peck Awards.

There will also be a slideshow of members coverage of the UK riots. Please contact jasonnparkinson@gmail.com to submit your images.

Facebook Event.

Online benefit in aid of his children launches on September 5, 2011

 When Anton Hammerl’s family hold a memorial service for him in London on Thursday, September 8, 2011 at St Bride’s Church, Fleet Street, he will not be forgotten by fellow photographers and journalists the world over.

Some of the most renowned names in the world of photography have rallied together to donate images exclusively for sale on website – www.friendsofanton.org – to raise funds for Hammerl’s three children, 11-year-old Aurora, seven-year-old Neo, and 6-month-old baby Hiro. Hammerl was killed while covering the war in Libya in April 2011.

Money raised will be used for the children’s future education and is the fraternity’s way of remembering the life of a vibrant and talented fallen colleague. Non-profit organisation Reporters Without Borders is sponsoring the online benefit and handling all donations.

The launch of the website today coincides with five months to the day that Hammerl was gunned down in Libya. It is also a few days before his family holds a memorial service in London to bid farewell to their son, husband and brother.

Part of the team who have helped steer the fundraising website are the three colleagues who were with Hammerl when he was killed – photojournalist Manu Brabo, and journalists Clare Morgana Gillis and James Foley. The three were arrested immediately after Hammerl was shot and were unlawfully detained for six weeks before being freed.

“When Anton was with us he spoke with such deep love for his children. We feel unable to rest without being able to try and help his children in some way,” says Foley, who together with Brabo, has returned to Libya to cover the end of the fighting. Adds Brabo, ”What happened to Anton was horrific. I feel compelled to help his family in any way that I can.”

The photos, generously donated, represent a diverse mix of stunning photography from around the world and are available to collectors for a limited time.

Amongst the photographers contributing are David Burnett, Kenneth Jarecke, João Silva, Bruno Stevens, Q. Sakamaki, Greg Marinovich, Andrew Testa, João Pina, Matt Black, Teun Voeten, Teru Kuwayama, Leonie Marinovich and Jody MacDonald. Many more high profile photographers will be added in the coming days.

“We’re hoping to get people from all over the world to purchase these amazing prints. It will be like a central gallery showcasing some of the finest photography in the world. The ‘gift’ of the prints from these wonderful photographers is truly a way of honouring Anton by his colleagues in the field,” adds Clare Morgana Gillis, who will be travelling to London to pay tribute to Hammerl at the memorial service on September 8, 2011.

Hammerl, a former photo editor and chief photographer for The Saturday Star in Johannesburg, was living in London with his wife, Penny, and two of his children when he went as a freelancer to Libya for a two-week stint to cover the conflict. As a freelancer he was not supported in any way by any media organisation.

For six weeks, his family and the world were led to believe Hammerl was being detained by the Gadaffi regime and that he was alive, when all along it had been covered up that he had been shot and killed on April 5, 2011.

For those six weeks his family led an impassioned campaign to get to the truth about what had happened to Hammerl. They organised yellow ribbon campaigns, global vigils and online and media efforts that garnered over 35,000 petition signatures to try to get access to Hammerl.

But they were only to learn of his true fate when Gillis, Foley and Brabo were finally released from captivity and safely crossed the border out of Libya. It was six weeks after he had gone missing.

“The global outpouring of sympathy and concern for Hammerl’s family, wife, and children has been felt over the months,” says friendsofanton.org volunteer organiser and New York City-based freelance video journalist/ activist, Colleen Delaney.

“Many people wanted to contribute to the future of Anton’s children. There has been so much good will and the photo and journalism communities wanted to help.”

Hammerl’s remains have not yet been located and returned to his family.

London memorial service:

Thursday, 8 September, 3 – 4pm

St Bride’s Church, Fleet Street, London, EC4Y 8AU

The service will be followed by a reception at the Press House Wine Bar, next to the church, from 4pm (1 St. Bride’s Passage, London, EC4Y 8EJ)

The London Photographers’ branch committee would like to applaud the recent stand Larry Price, Pulitzer winning photojournalist has made against job losses.

Larry resigned as picture editor at the Dayton Daily News in Ohio this week after being told that up to four people would be cut from his nine staff photographers.

We wholeheartedly support the action Larry has taken to defend these jobs and professional news gathering. It is only through solidarity like this and engaging our collective strength that we can challenge the bean-counters in local and national media and force media organisations to reassess their priorities. We strongly urge the Cox Media Group to reconsider its planned redundancies and facilitate Larry Price’s return to work.

As Larry says, “@larrycprice is only 1 person but many nationwide are making huge sacrifices. Spread the word”

Thursday 18 August at 7pm

NUJ Headland House, London

Speakers include:

- Paul Lewis, special projects editor, The Guardian

- Hal Austin, editor, Financial Adviser magazine, and freelance reporter on the 1981 Brixton riots for the News of the World

- Tony Evans, football editor, The Times

- Carmen Valino, Photographer

- Gary MacFarlane, Tottenham journalist and eyewitness to the riots

To reserve a place at the event please email: campaigns@nuj.org.uk

Click here - Video: The Five Stages

Trauma sells, it dominates the news. We read about it every day, images of trauma bombard us through every media outlet. But what happens when the photographer becomes traumatised?

Following our last branch meeting Dealing with Trauma, myself and Branch Secretary Jason Parkinson were invited to a Trauma Retreat, hosted by the Dart Centre in Whitby. We had previously been part of a Dart round table discussion with journalists who had covered the revolution in Egypt, sharing the experiences in covering the uprisings in the Middle East with a view to working more safely in the future.

Despite the high volume of traumatic work carried out by journalists and photojournalists, we rarely give ourselves the time to sit down and to take full stock of the material we are handling. Taking the time to do this is important, because it is the first stage in arming ourselves with the tools and techniques that we can use to protect ourselves and our colleagues. The question is a dual one: what can we do to make ourselves both more resilient and at the same time produce more insightful work?

Talking about trauma in this way, during the weekend in Whitby was intense and demanding. We looked at situations journalists are confronted with when covering stories about trauma victims. While most of us bear up extremely well in instantly stressful situations, and deal as well as we can when listening to the harrowing accounts of survivors, it was clear that long-term exposure can have an accumulative impact on those documenting traumatic events.

We heard many harrowing accounts from the journalists, both staff and freelance, working for a variety of media outlets who have covered war, public order, or stories involving children which presented ethical dilemmas and emotional challenges. We also covered specific issues for female journalists and sexual violence.

One of the issues we explored in detail was Post Traumatic Stress disorder (PTSD). A lot of mythology surrounds the condition, but it is clearly a danger for people working around violence and trauma, just as it is for the victims whose lives we are documenting. As photojournalists we are often in the thick of it and right in the frontline. And nobody, however experienced they are or strong they appear to be on the surface, is necessarily immune from the toxic effects of working on this kind of material.

Some talked about feeling like a “trauma sponge” others about the “toxic buildup” associated with their work. And these responses are common in journalists who don’t go onto develop a clinical condition like PTSD.

So what we can do to look after ourselves and our colleagues?

Our mental wellbeing is as important as our physical health as journalists. We were taught by psychotherapists and industry professionals how to recognise the signs of trauma trouble in our colleagues: short temper, panic, lack of sleep, flashbacks, irritation, anger, lack of concentration, nightmares.

Traumatic stress still has an impact, even when PTSD as a clinical condition is not suspected.  There are a number of simple things we can do to reduce the pressure level. We were given practical methods to relieve stress, aerobic exercise is very good, as is meditation and breathing techniques. Healthy eating and a balance of vitamins also helps your body process stress, as is trying to maintain a regular sleep pattern.

Finding help is important, especially if somebody suspects they may have developed PTSD.  Sometimes people may worry that admitting they are not coping well might derail their work and make it less likely they’ll be employed. The truth is that doing nothing about a condition, which responds well to treatment, is more likely to have a devastating impact on the relationships around you and your work.

A supportive network of colleagues can be a great help, many of us go for the obligatory post assignment trip to the pub which can be very useful in sharing experiences and allowing the brain to start processing the memories.

Some media organisations have set up peer support groups which pair up journalists. We heard from the Australian Broadcasting corporation (ABC) who have done this very successfully, especially coping with the devastating forest fires. (Another group of Australian journalists trained by the Dart Centre even provided peer support to their colleagues in Samoa after the 2009 Tsunami  -  a wonderful gesture of solidarity)

Even if it is just a friendly voice on the end of the line, or a text asking if you are ok when you are away on a job helps. We are thinking of running a similar scheme through LPB. Many of our members are freelancers, but others who are attached to news organisations or publications are also unsupported.

Media professionals are very resilient – it is the nature of the job. But some maybe in denial, others feel embarrassed, inadequate or that they wont get work again if they talk about their situations. But negative responses to stressful situations are a natural human reactions and the down time needs to be factored into any workflow.

We are exploring with the Dart Centre a new initiative to provide photojournalists with relevant training. This is mostly about learning to listen and deal with stress and will be on an informal basis. It will provide us with the skills and care needed to be more resilient. It will give us the tools to help our colleagues, referring them to health Pro’s if necessary. We’re trying to create a trauma aware culture for us as journalists and how we cover events. Also making our editors more away of the effects of work overloads, deadlines, organisational pressures, logistics in the field.

Setting up a peer-support programme for journalists is going to take time and some careful planning to get right. If that sounds interesting and you’d like to contribute to that discussion, please get in touch.

© Jess Hurd