Tory boy called off and shot in a corner... I've just walked up to the climate camp (yes, it's that near) and had all my prejudices confounded. The camp is small and tidy and contained, with not a scrap of litter visible and the campers are friendly, articulate and committed. I'm going to pop back again later in the week. What this has made me realise - again - is how important it is for journalists to get out and see what's going on with their own eyes. This isn't going to make them "objective" - nothing can do that - but at least they'll get some context and realise that what they've assumed isn't always right. All the more worrying that the trend in newsrooms is to have journalists chained to their desks churning out press releases and repeating distorted stories which they could report truthfully if they were allowed out of the office.
I see from the Guardian they've been running sessions at the camp on DIY journalism, how to shoot and upload your own video footage etc.. Presumably all organised journalism in things called newspapers smacks of corporatism? There's so much to like in the camp, and so much to despair of (assumption that only a specific anti-capitalist societal model can reduce emissions, etc.).
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment, Martin. There's clearly some suspicion of organised media, I agree - I was up there this afternoon and there are lots of "no media" notices hanging on tents. But they were media-aware enough to have a media team and to invite mainstream journalists to stay for the duration of the camp. And judging by the pieces on the various "actions", they know that the only way they're going to get publicity is through the mainstream, however loathesomely capitalist it may be...there's only so much you can do with a blog and a video camera.
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