Alan Lodge's Blog

To do an action and not be able to communicate it, is almost not to do the action at all
You need a photo of the spanner going into the works.

You need a photo of the campaigners going over the fence.

You need video of the activist saying why they did it.

You need a picture of the target and the target at work.

All these things are needed to communicate why, what and when the thing happened – if they aren’t there then the public effect of the action will be but a fraction of what it could be.

The economic damage of the spanner going into the machine will be real, but the inspiration of the action is in many ways as important as coverage like this is probably the reason/motivation for the current action – and it is only a series of actions that will change society, not isolated and invisible single actions. Using media to amplify your message is key to the content of your action.

You could invite mainstream media along

* but they likely won’t come

* they will tell the target and/or the police

* they will not be part of any illegal activity so won’t get the shots they need to tell the story.

* when you are done a editor higher up (hand in hand with their lawyers) will change the message to be something you will not only be disappointed with but probably furious with – it’s the nature of mainstream media to misrepresent any social change activity that isn’t sanctioned by the mainstream –  this is unlikely to change.

Media is key to the message, perhaps all media is good media, but some is more useful for radical purpose than others. Lets make DIY work and make our own media

Hamish’s Blog

NUJ Download ADM Preliminary Agenda 2009 [PDF]

http://www.nuj.org.uk/getfile.php?id=744

Motion #12 page 4

This ADM condemns Kent police’s seizure, without a warrant, of a UK indymedia server in Manchester on January 22, 2009, and the ongoing failure to return it to the owner.

This ADM recognises the inherent value of open news publishing on the Internet, particularly UK Indymedia and its collectively organised sister sites all over the world. ADM welcomes efforts by the New Media Industrial Council to work with the London Indymedia collective to create better links between the union and those working for the site, who include NUJ members.

This ADM calls for better legal safeguards for all online content and instructs the NEC to provide appropriate support to Indymedia through our members working with the site.
Cost £1,000 London Central also received from New Media Industrial Council

and ….

Motion #91 page 19
This ADM condemns the excessive policing of the G20 demonstrations in London and other demonstrations in the UK. Peaceful protesters were subjected to unacceptable restrictions on their rights to assemble and demonstrate, journalists were prevented from doing their jobs and some  protesters and journalists were victims of police brutality. ADM offers its condolences to the family of Ian Tomlinson who died during the demonstrations.

ADM welcomes the brave efforts of NUJ members to highlight the police behaviour in the face of such restrictions and, in particular, congratulates Indymedia for its comprehensive coverage and Marc Vallee and the Guardian newspaper on their important investigations. ADM also welcomes the efforts by the union’s officials to work to change the police behaviour towards  journalists and the legal support provided to those who need it. ADM, however, also notes that some journalists played a less than constructive part in advance of the G20 demonstrations and in the  immediate aftermath – printing police statements as fact that turned out to be, at best, hyperbole and, at worst, downright lies.

ADM reminds all members that journalists should make every effort to verify information provided by sources and that this applies to the police as much as everyone else. ADM notes that the presumption of violence on the part of protesters and the stereotyping of all anarchists as violent has consistently proved to be inaccurate and unfair.

ADM instructs the NEC to work with the Ethics Council to prepare guidelines for members on how to properly report on demonstrations – including the period just before the events – and how to cover police statements appropriately. ADM further instructs the NEC to seek to address the union’s concerns about inaccurate statements – a practice that has damaged the reputation of both the police and the media – to the police and  to seek to convince them of the need to provide journalists with accurate information.
Cost: £1,000 London Central

National Union of Journalists
http://www.nuj.org.uk

Seventeen declarations

1. The internet is different.

It produces different public spheres, different terms of trade and different cultural skills. The media must adapt their work methods to today’s technological reality instead of ignoring or challenging it. It is their duty to develop the best possible form of journalism based on the available technology. This includes new journalistic products and methods.

2. The internet is a pocket-sized media empire.

The web rearranges existing media structures by transcending their former boundaries and oligopolies. The publication and dissemination of media contents are no longer tied to heavy investments. Journalism’s self-conception is—fortunately—being bereft of its gatekeeping function. All that remains is the journalistic quality through which journalism distinguishes itself from mere publication.

3. The internet is our society is the Internet.

Web-based platforms like social networks, Wikipedia or YouTube have become a part of everyday life for the majority of people in the western world. They are as accessible as the telephone or television. If media companies want to continue to exist, they must understand the lifeworld of today’s users and embrace their forms of communication. This includes basic forms of social communication: listening and responding, also known as dialog.

4. The freedom of the internet is inviolable.

The internet’s open architecture constitutes the basic IT law of a society which communicates digitally and, consequently, of journalism. It may not be modified for the sake of protecting the special commercial or political interests often hidden behind the pretense of public interest. Regardless of how it is done, blocking access to the Internet endangers the free flow of information and corrupts our fundamental right to a self-determined level of information.

5. The internet is the victory of information.

Due to inadequate technology, media companies, research centers, public institutions and other organizations compiled and classified the world’s information up to now. Today every citizen can set up her own personal news filter while search engines tap into wealths of information of a magnitude never before known. Individuals can now inform themselves better than ever.

6. The internet changes improves journalism.

Through the Internet, journalism can fulfill its social-educational role in a new way. This includes presenting information as an ever-changing, continual process; the forfeiture of print media’s inalterability is a benefit. Those who want to survive in this new world of information need a new idealism, new journalistic ideas and a sense of pleasure in exploiting this new potential.

7. The net requires networking.

Links are connections. We know each other through links. Those who do not use them exclude themselves from social discourse. This also holds for the websites of traditional media companies.

8. Links reward, citations adorn.

Search engines and aggregators facilitate quality journalism: they boost the findability of outstanding content over a long-term basis and are thus an integral part of the new, networked public sphere. References through links and citations—especially including those made without any consent of or even remuneration of the originator—make the very culture of networked social discourse possible in the first place. They are by all means worthy of protection.

9. The internet is the new venue for political discourse.

Democracy thrives on participation and freedom of information. Transferring the political discussion from traditional media to the Internet and expanding on this discussion by involving the active participation of the public is one of journalism’s new tasks.

10. Today’s freedom of the press means freedom of opinion.

Article 5 of the German Constitution does not comprise protective rights for professions or technically traditional business models. The Internet overrides the technological boundaries between the amateur and professional. This is why the privilege of freedom of the press must hold for anyone who can contribute to the fulfillment of journalistic duties. Qualitatively speaking, no differentiation should be made between paid and unpaid journalism, but rather, between good and poor journalism.

11. More is more – there is no such thing as too much information.

Once upon a time, institutions such as the church prioritized power over personal awareness and warned of an unsifted flood of information when the letterpress was invented. On the other hand were the pamphleteers, encyclopaedists and journalists who proved that more information leads to more freedom, both for the individual as well as society as a whole. To this day, nothing has changed in this respect.

12. Tradition is not a business model.

Money can be made on the Internet with journalistic content. There are many examples of this today already. Yet because the Internet is fiercely competitive, business models have to be adapted to the structure of the net. No one should try to abscond from this essential adaptation through policy-making geared to preserving the status quo. Journalism needs open competition for the best refinancing solutions on the net, along with the courage to invest in the multifaceted implementation of these solutions.

13. Copyright becomes a civic duty on the internet.

Copyright is a central cornerstone of information organization on the Internet. Originators’ rights to decide on the type and scope of dissemination of their contents are also valid on the net. At the same time, copyright may not be abused as a lever to safeguard obsolete supply mechanisms and shut out new distribution models or license schemes. Ownership entails obligations.

14. The internet has many currencies.

Journalistic online services financed through adverts offer content in exchange for a pull effect. A reader’s, viewer’s or listener’s time is valuable. In the industry of journalism, this correlation has always been one of the fundamental tenets of financing. Other forms of refinancing which are journalistically justifiable need to be forged and tested.

15. What’s on the net stays on the net.

The internet is lifting journalism to a new qualitative level. Online, text, sound and images no longer have to be transient. They remain retrievable, thus building an archive of contemporary history. Journalism must take the development of information, its interpretation and errors into account, i.e., it must admit its mistakes and correct them in a transparent manner.

16. Quality remains the most important quality.

The internet debunks homogeneous bulk goods. Only those who are outstanding, credible and exceptional will gain a steady following in the long run. Users’ demands have increased. Journalism must fulfill them and abide by its own frequently formulated principles.

17. All for all.

The web constitutes an infrastructure for social exchange superior to that of 20th century mass media: When in doubt, the “generation Wikipedia” is capable of appraising the credibility of a source, tracking news back to its original source, researching it, checking it and assessing it—alone or as part of a group effort. Journalists who snub this and are unwilling to respect these skills are not taken seriously by these Internet users. Rightly so. The Internet makes it possible to communicate directly with those once known as recipients—readers, listeners and viewers—and to take advantage of their knowledge. Not the journalists who know it all are in demand, but those who communicate and investigate.

Internet Manifesto : How journalism works today. Seventeen declarations

Climate camp’s media mismanagement

John Vidal lambasts the protesters’ heavy-handed media strategy

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2007/aug/21/climatecampsmediamismanagme

The climate camp at Heathrow is coming down and the core group, which set it up and steered the event, is celebrating what they say has been a successful week of protest education and discussion. Good luck to them, but don’t buy the guff that it was a model of a new low carbon-based society or the birth of a utopian political movement.

I went to the camp twice, and to the HQ of the metropolitan police once for a briefing last week. Frankly, it was easier and far more pleasant getting into Scotland Yard. A small but anonymous faction of the old protest movement at the climate camp had decided from the start that the ‘corporate’ press is actually the enemy, and therefore has to be excluded. There was to be no appeal and the policy was rigorously enforced via a media police team. As a sop, the press was allowed a guided tour of certain parts of the camp for one hour a day.

This was plane stupid. Just when the campers were saying that climate action had to become a mass movement and were appealing to the public to join them, they were deliberately keeping the media out – the very people needed to open up the debate.

I refused to go on the absurd camp tour. On a personal level, every journalist and photographer I talked to felt insulted. Why is a journalist – good or bad – not classed as a citizen? Why could not journalists inform themselves by going to the lectures and debates? Why should they not enjoy the same rights as anyone else? Why was my partner allowed into the camp but not me? Why could I only talk to people I had known for years only in the company of a minder?

If there is one thing more aggravating than a British policeman stopping you on suspicion that you are a terrorist when he knows for a fact that you are not, it’s a jobsworth protester trying to have you thrown out of a site that he himself has squatted.

…… Full article

Costing the Earth Radio4 ‘flagship’ environmental program

Listen again at:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00mbgwf

All over the country renewable energy schemes are being thwarted by local people determined to stop wind farms and bio-mass plants being built on some of the most beautiful doorsteps in Britain.

In the first of a new series of ‘Costing the Earth’ Tom Heap asks if radical action is needed to break through the blockade. Should the new planning laws intended to rush through urgently needed road and airport projects be extended to all green energy projects? Or should developers make more effort to get local people on board? If locals can see an immediate financial benefit will they drop their opposition?

Tom Heap travels from Sussex to Orkney to meet the protestors and find out how they can be brought on board the green energy revolution.

and ….

for the Archers Fans out there [well, I’m one anyway ….] Some of the villagers are engaging in a spot of guerrilla gardening.  Splendid 🙂

Two photographers, Jonathan Warren & Marc Vallée were assaulted OUTSIDE the climate camp yesterday. It is disgraceful and as much the fault of the climate camps misguided policy on journalism, as it is of the folks that attacked them.  It was outside the Euston Station in 1999, during the WTO protests, that I was severely beaten up and lost most of my teeth and a jaw fracture.  What was even worse for me is that these bastards ‘looked like’ so many of my own kind, and wore little anarchy badges.  This also resulted from an unreasonable attitude by some campaigns to photography.  When I got home, there were 14 messages on my answerphone, asking for my pictures to help with police complains and asking for defence in court!!!!!  This will never change while some people think that they can moderate what gets published by intimidation and violence. Just like the heavies, police and governments do in their ‘media management’.  Bastards!!

Open Letter to the Climate Camp:

http://jwarren.co.uk/blog/climate-camp-open-letter

What happened
Yesterday afternoon as my colleague Marc Vallée and I were leaving Climate Camp we found a group of people arguing around the SWP stall that was selling newspapers and leaflets outside the entrance to the camp.

As we went in to take photographs the group arguing with the SWP quickly turned their attention to us, shouting loudly that we had not asked their permission before photographing them. They were immediately aggressive and threatening, I managed to calm the ones around me and walk away, however, one young man was persistently threatening towards Marc.

They stood a few metres away from the camp, talking for several minutes as Marc explained that he was an independent freelance journalist and that as a matter of principle he would not delete any photographs. The young man insisted that he did not like his photograph being taken and that Marc delete any photographs he had of him. He repeatedly threatened to grab Marc’s camera and delete the pictures himself or smash the camera.

After a while we felt that the situation had calmed enough to walk away. Marc said that they should both shake hands and walk away and offered his hand. The man did not take it and as we turned to leave he tried to grab the camera off Marc’s shoulder.

I stepped in shouting ‘Oi’ and as I did the man took a step back and kicked me hard in the stomach. We backed away and then walked away from the camp, checking that they were not following us.

What happens next
We realise that these few people and one incident are not representative of the camp as we have covered the movement for some years now. However, we believe that the camp’s policy towards photographers and the media have created an environment that sets the stage for this behaviour to happen. The atmosphere created by your policies and attitude towards photographers worryingly parallels the anti-terror laws and attitude that we find the police using against photographers.

It is unacceptable to use violence and the threat of violence to intimidate journalists. We do not allow the police to do it and we will not allow protesters to do it either.

We would be well within our rights to go to the police and press charges, however, we are not willing to jeopardise our close relationship with so many of those in the protest movement.

We ask the man who assaulted us to come forward and apologise and that the camps organisers unequivocally condemn his actions. We would also ask the Camp’s organisers to seriously consider their responsibility for the negative atmosphere they have created within their movement towards journalists.

The media are not your enemy, but nor should we be your implicit friends either. We are independent and will report all sides of the story truthfully without fear or favour and that should be what you want of us too.

Signed,

Jonathan Warren
Marc Vallée

The Independent Video on police harassment of photographers

[vimeo vimeo.com/6273469]

http://www.vimeo.com/6273469

The Agitator2 from Joe Morris on Vimeo.

How the anti-copyright lobby makes big business richer
A Photo Journalist explains how
by Sion Touhig

We’re continually being told the Internet empowers the individual. But speaking as an individual creative worker myself, I’d argue that all this Utopian revolution has achieved so far in my sector is to disempower individuals, strengthen the hand of multinational businesses, and decrease the pool of information available to audiences. All things that the technology utopians say they wanted to avoid.

I’m a freelance professional photographer, and in recent years, the internet ‘economy’ has devastated my sector. It’s now difficult to make a viable living due to widespread copyright theft from newspapers, media groups, individuals and a glut of images freely or cheaply available on the Web. These have combined to crash the unit cost of images across the board, regardless of category or intrinsic worth. For example, the introduction of Royalty Free ‘microstock’, which means you can now buy an image for $1.00, is just one factor that has dragged down professional fees.

I already hear you telling me to stop crying into my beer as the world doesn’t owe me a living, and that expanding imagery on the Web has democratised the medium. I’d partially agree with both arguments, as in my work of newspaper and magazine photojournalism you’re only as good as your last picture, and photojournalism in recent years has become infected with an unhealthy sense of elitism and entitlement which could do with a good kick up the arse.

So what’s the problem? Well, lets look at one trend which would appear to suggest more “democracy” in the media – but actually doesn’t – and that’s ‘User Contributed Content’, or ‘Citizen Journalism’.

The mainstream media has propagandized hard for Citizen Journalism ever since the mobile phone images of the July 7th London bombings, but sadly, this enthusiasm has little to do with journalism or democratising the media..

User Contributed Content should be more accurately termed ‘Audience Stolen Content’, because media groups rarely pay for Citizen Journalism images and more often than not, either claim the copyright or an all-encompassing license from contributors, when they send their pictures in. That’s a copyright grab in all but name.

For more, please check out:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/12/29/photojournalism_and_copyright

‘AirRobot’ were showing off their AR100B surveillance drone at the anti-BNP protests in Codnor, Derbyshire.

It was also flow over the lane at the second ‘designated protest point’ in Codnor Denby Lane. I didn’t see it, but I guess they also used the device over the festival field itself.

Pilot Mark Lawrence was from the German company, AirRobot. He was demonstrating the surveillance drone capabilities to members of the Derbyshire Police Operational Support Unit.  The police haven’t bought it yet but they said that they may share the £25,000 costs with Nottinghamshire Police, same as with the helicopter. I said that I was aware of a number of different manufactures of this sort of equipment, so, what about those? The police rep said that optically, and endurance wise, they are all quite similar.  This device however was a much more stable platform.  For example a gust of wind could unbalance the craft before an operator could correct it.  But some of the trim capabilities were automatic. Thus, the operator can pay more attention to the subject, and less to the flying of the device.

It has about 30 mins battery life endurance, a max height of 1000m although I think it would usually be operated a lot lower. Horizontally, between 500 – 1000m because of the range of both the control signals and the informantion downlink.

Like International Rescue Thunderbird 2, it can be fitted with a number of differant cameras.  They come in modules.  It seem to me this is a neat way of saving weight in that exactly the right camera for the mission that moment can be fitted. It takes only a couple of minutes to change the camera module if required. The image on the control deck was of ‘monitor quality’.  Enough to fly it and see where it’s pointing. High quality images can both / either be stored on a card or transmitted as downlink to the gold commander operations room.

This was the same bit of kit that was deployed over Stonehenge during the Summer Solstice in June, this year.

All in all a nifty bit of kit.  I want one!

Technical Specs for the AR100B surveillance drone

AirRobot UK is a supplier of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV’s) and Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS’s)

more pictures of this device at my indymedia posting:
AirRobots Drone deployed at Demo against the BNP Event in Derbyshire

‘Spy in the sky’ the-sauce.org

Video: AirRobot RotorCams, showing off the latest advance in aerial surveillance, the AirRobot.

British National Party BNP held its annual `Red, White and Blue` rally at a farm just outside Codnor in Derbyshire on the weekend of August 14th – 16th 2009

About 2000 folks demonstrated against this event. Police had been granted orders under the Public Odger Act 1986.  This defined the march route, and created 2 “Designated Protest Points” in Codnor Market Place and on Codnor-Denby Lane, 250 metres short of the entrance to the RWB events. Some made and effort to push past the police cordon there.  This was reinforced a number of times, eventually deploying horses and dogs.  A few arrests resulted, but no serious injury.

A total of 19 people were arrested at various locations. Three have been charged with public order offences and a fourth with unlawfully obstructing the highway. The police operation cost around £500,000 and involved more than 500 officers, many from other forces, on the mutual aid scheme.

Police surveillance was very much in evidence [as ever]. With the FIT, EG teams, the helicopter and now the shiny new drone, local force are thinking of buying ……

More on the Subject…..

The ‘welcoming Gate Crew’ BNP Event at Codnor, Derbyshire

AirRobots Drone deployed at Demo against the BNP Event in Derbyshire

Demonstration against the BNP Event in Codnor, Derbyshire 1

Demonstration against the BNP Event in Codnor, Derbyshire 2

Demonstration against the BNP Event in Derbyshire : Surveillance Operations

Protest against the BNP Event in Codnor, Derbyshire : Police Action

Feature: Anti-fascists challenge BNP’s return to Derbyshire

Take a look at this. The video is from last night when 500 activist tried to stop the eviction and deportation of 19 Iraqis.

We think it bad in the UK sometimes ….. but danish police force evicting a church with Iraqi refugees:

http://sondagsavisen.dk/91/050125136 could take an award i think!!!!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b88-4ZH99q0]

with a further report at:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVGeiGMysdw]

I am told it went on like that for more than an hour! I’ve never seen so fierce application to so clearly applied to non-violent protesting people.

Earlier today, 20.000+ people were protesting the deportations of the Iraqi refugees. The biggest protest against deportations ever in danish history

On Wednesday 12th August at 5:15pm, supporters of those in dispute at Vestas, met by the Left Lion in Nottingham’s Market Square.

As the workers continue to suffer the fallout of a recession not of their making and as the unsustainable ecological destruction of the planet continues apace, supporters applaud those who are willing to resist the swinging cuts that we are all expected to accept.

The Vestas worker’s may have been evicted from their factory occupation. However, the fight to keep the factories open, to save jobs, to win a better redundancy deal and the needs to highlight the massive damage to the planet we continue to cause.

Many joined the Market Square as part of a Nottinghams contribution to the nationwide show of solidarity with the Support Vestas Workers’ day of Action. Some of Nottingham’s activists are currently on the Isle of Wight.

More pictures on my Indymedia posting at: Nottingham Vestas Solidarity Rally in Market Square

Vestas workers occupation [indymedia feature]

FACTORY UNDER OCCUPATION: Save 600 jobs at Vestas!

Derbyshire Constabulary, in conjunction with Amber Valley Borough Council, is placing restrictions on any protests planned in the vicinity of the British National Party’s Red, White and Blue event.

The BNP is staging the event at a site on Codnor-Denby Lane on Friday, Saturday and Sunday August 14th, 15th and 16th 2009 and a number of groups have indicated their plans to stage a protest in response to the event on Saturday August 15th 2009.

As part of this process the police and council have invoked a number of sections of the Public Order Act 1986 to help prevent serious disorder, serious damage to property and serious disruption to the local community.

http://www.derbyshire.police.uk/news/2030.html

Affected Area Map http://www.derbyshire.police.uk/sei/s/845/f121.pdf

A further Derbyshire Police statement predicting disruption is at:  http://www.derbyshire.police.uk/news/2029.html

Those involved in any ‘more’ direct action, should be most concerned with this device.

Drone used to monitor BNP event: A drone fitted with video cameras will be flown over a British National Party gathering in Derbyshire after dozens of protesters were arrested last year.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/derbyshire/8185165.stm

and ….. this video of the new police flying toy, is the best i’ve seen so far. This was taken at the Stonehenge events this year.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THBs5npv7mE&feature=related]

The local Nottingham campaign against this event: http://nobnpfestival.wordpress.com

Photography is under attack. Across the country it that seems anyone with a camera is being targeted as a potential terrorist, whether amateur or professional, whether landscape, architectural or street photographer.

Not only is it corrosive of press freedom but creation of the collective visual history of our country is extinguished by anti-terrorist legislation designed to protect the heritage it prevents us recording.

This campaign is for everyone who values visual imagery, not only photographers.

We must work together now to stop this before photography becomes a part of history rather than a way of recording it.

http://photographernotaterrorist.org

Please also check out the bust card they produce at:

http://photographernotaterrorist.org/bust-card

also ……

‘Not A Crime’  http://www.not-a-crime.com

The fight-back begins here – BJP 15 July

http://www.bjp-online.com/public/showPage.html?page=865556

The Veggies Trailer has a shiny new paint job.

Actually, It’s had a new paint job for a few weeks now, but only just got round to posting it. Also, the container in the yard has had a bit of a re-do and is now finished. Cheers Deam & Oxygen Thievez Graff Collective.

The ‘urban garden’ is also looking even more verdant.  I’ll be doing more on this a little later.

Sumac Garden Project, looking verdant [Food for the Future]
http://indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/05/430465.html

“Food for the Future” skillshare session at the Sumac centre [Greenweeks]
http://indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/05/430936.html

Previous Sumac and related events

Nottingham Spring into Action :: Seeds, Stencils, and Social @ Sumac
http://indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/nottinghamshire/2007/04/367463.html

The Sumac Centre Reopens After Radical Revamp
http://indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/nottinghamshire/2007/09/381592.html

‘Fresh’ Project at Ecoworks, St Ann’s Allotments
http://indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/nottinghamshire/2007/10/382929.html

Day of Action on Food and Climate Change: food giveaway & anti-Tesco demo
http://indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/nottinghamshire/2008/06/400226.html

much more ‘Tash on Food’ at:

Veggies  http://www.veggies.org.uk

The Metropolitan Police have [at last] revised it’s ‘Photography Advice’ page at:

http://www.met.police.uk/about/photography.htm

The NUJ had pointed out that in many aspects, it was just plain wrong, mis-guided and needed to be changed.

NUJ and other photography groups drew attention to their concerns.

Changes to police guidelines welcomed by NUJ

Members of the media can, like any other person, be stopped and searched under s44 of the Terrorism Act 2000. They may also be stopped and searched under S43 of the Terrorism Act 2000 if an officer reasonably suspects that they are a terrorist. However, where it is clear that the person being searched is a journalist, officers should exercise caution before viewing images as images acquired or created for the purposes of journalism may constitute journalistic material and should not be viewed without a Court Order.

The guidance includes a statement making it clear that the police do not have the power to stop the media from filming and taking photographs in public places. The police now recognise the specific protections that are afforded to the media. It warns officers that they cannot demand to see images taken for journalistic purposes without a court order.

Now, we’re back to where we started, with a set of guidelines that are routinely ignored. 🙁

Proud to announce the formation of a new campaign for photographers’ rights – I’m a Photographer, Not a Terrorist!

http://photographernotaterrorist.org

Photography is under attack. Across the country anyone with a camera is targeted as a potential terrorist. This campaign is for everyone who values visual imagery and press freedom.

Come to the launch party for this new campaign on Saturday the 8th of August at The Foundry http://www.foundry.tv in East London from 6pm till late.

>>

Nottingham photographer ‘Tash’ also  strongly supports the British Journal of Photography Campaign.

Police routinely invoke anti-terror legislation to prevent photographers from carrying out their work, and photojournalists are constantly filmed at public gatherings and their details kept on an ever-growing database. Tourists, particularly foreign tourists, are also targeted by police, as was the case with an Austrian father and son recently who made the mistake of photographing a building of an extremely sensitive nature—Walthamstow bus station.

Put simply, Britain has become a no-photo zone, and so if you fail to comply, you may find yourself liable to attack, arrest or harassment. Recognising that Britain is not the only country where such a draconian anti-photographer culture is developing, the British Journal of Photography is beginning an international visual campaign to raise awareness.

‘Not A Crime’  http://www.not-a-crime.com

The fight-back begins here – BJP 15 July

http://www.bjp-online.com/public/showPage.html?page=865556

At the H&K demos in Nottingham, we have again been honoured with the attendence of the Forward Intelligence Team of the Metropolitan Police. They were also watching comings and goings at the sumac in Nottingham, during the anti-militarist gathering.

Demos & Surveillance continue [July] at Heckler & Koch weapons HQ

victory for fitwatchers everywhere

The latest entry on the FITwach blog at http://fitwatch.blogspot.com points out the activity of these two policemen in particular. Ian Caswell PC1818 of South Yorkshire police + PS Mark Sully CO996. They cover a wide range of activity / action. They work for the National Public Order Intelligence Unit (NPOIU). This is a sister organisation to NETCU.  FITwatch have noted their involvement in much climate camp policing.

To bone up on all this, we suggest:
Report on the policing of Climate Camp [Final Report]

Kent Police Operation Oasis [Debrief report]

Quote:  “FIT team were used extensively.  Some evidence to suggest they were used to direct Sect 1 and Sect 60 searches, but a clearer role definition and tactical direction would have been to greater advantage.  Activists were clearly disrupted by the teams and there was evidence of the effectiveness, which in turn lead to them being unpopular with the activists“

The Big Green Gathering, a fixture in the alternative calendar, was due to return after two years this week. 15–20,000 people were expected to turn up on Wednesday (29th) to the site near Cheddar, Somerset, for Europe’s largest green event – a five-day festival promoting sustainability and renewable energy, with everything from allotments to alternative media. Hundreds of staff and volunteers are already on site, and its cancellation comes just days before gates were due to open. Organisers, most of whom work for nothing, are gutted. One told”SchNEWS” below:”> SchNEWS “We are so disappointed not to be having this year’s gathering – it means so much to so many people”.A last-minute injunction by Mendip Dis-trict Council, supported by Avon and Somer-set Police, put the ki-bosh on the entire event – citing the potential for ‘crime and disorder’ and safety concerns. This was despite the fact that the festival had actually been granted a licence on the 30th of June. According to Avon and Somerset police’s website “[We] went above and beyond the call of duty to ensure this event took place.” This is of course utter bollocks.The injunction was due to be heard in the High Court in London on Monday (27th). However, before that could happen the BGG organisers surrendered the festival licence on Sunday morning. As soon as this was done a police commander at the meeting was overheard saying into his radio “Operation Fortress is go”. Police have already set up roadblocks and promised to turn festival-goers back. Chief Inspector Paul Richards, festival liaison, later confi rmed to one of the festival organisers that “This is political”, adding that the decision had been made over his head at county level. One of SchNEWS’ sources on site said that the police were frank about the fact that the closure had been planned for two weeks. “This was a blatant act of political sabotage – the Big Green Gathering is now completely bankrupt, they knew that we were going to be closed down and yet they carried on allowing us to spend money hand over fi st on infrastructure”.The BGG collapsed financially in 2007 under the weight of increased security costs. The new licensing act added an extra £120k to their costs, leaving them with a loss of £80k. Security accounted for a third of their overall overheads and the road marshalling bill rose from £5k to over £23k. In spite of these setbacks, they managed to scrape them-selves back off the floor with shareholder cash and some potentially dubious corporate involvement. Every effort had been made by the gathering’s organisers to accommodate the increasingly niggling demands of police and licensing authorities. The procedure lasted over six months – just check the minutes of meetings held between organisers and the authorities. Demands included a steel fence, watchtowers and perimeter patrols, having the horsedrawn fi eld inside a ‘secure com-pound’ and wristbands for twelve undercover police. At a multi-agency meeting on Thursday, police took those wristbands in order to maintain the pretence that the festival stood a chance of going ahead. A catalogue of other obstacles were also continually placed in the organiser’s path.All of the businesses associated with the BGG came under scrutiny, licensing authorities contacted South West ambulances, the Fire Brigade and the fencing contractors and asked them to get payment up front from the BGG. Needless to say this caused huge problems. Under the terms of the Licensing Act 2005, police can insist on certain security fi rms being used by organisers. This of course leads to a totally unhealthy hand-in-glove re-lationship, open to abuse. Stuart Security were forced on the BGG by police, and on Wednes-day last week, they suddenly announced that they wanted 60% of their fee up front. Even though the BGG scraped the cash together, the company still wanted out. So the BGG hired another fi rm – against police wishes. The fact that Stuart Security rely on police approval for lucrative contracts at Glastonbury Festival, the Royal Bath & West Show, WOMAD, Reading Festival, and Glade Festival has, of course, no bearing on the matter.

The last issue at stake was road closures. Mendip District Council had insisted on road closures as part of the licensing requirements. A festival organiser contacted the highways agency to process this fairly routine request. The decision was passed to junior manage-ment who reportedly came under intense pressure not to grant the closure. As the road closures were not secured, the council were able to claim that the BGG was in breach of licence. A nice little legal stitch-up that according to one QC meant the BGG stood fuck-all chance of fighting the injunction. Of course, now that “Operation Fortress” is in full swing, there are road-blocks throughout the area. The BGG is itself a limited company and could have fought the injunction – risking no more than bankruptcy – but in a nasty twist two individuals were also named, meaning that should proceedings have gone ahead against the festival then Mendip Council would have had a claim on their assets to settle court costs. Police also threatened to place the farmer on the injunction, risking his entire livelihood.Anyone who has ever been to the Big Green will know that the atmosphere is more like a village fete than any of the mainstream events. There is virtually no aggro. It’s more about chai and gong-massages than Stella and fi sticuffs. All power is 12V solar and the amplifi cation is correspondingly quiet. Music stops at midnight. Compare that to the 24 hr Technomuntfucks that go on with state blessing across the country. Of course it would be cynical to suggest that the BGG represents an alternative that the authorities fear. It’s a gathering place for eco-activists, where the likes of Plane Stupid and No-Borders hang out and exchange ideas while trying to avoid being button-holed by 9-11 truthers. It’s clear now that the state views events like the Big Green in the same light as Climate Camp and the anti-G20 protests. The BGG saga is showing that there may no longer be any  ‘safe’ legal spaces for us to gather. The third way of quasi-legal free-ish festivals is looking like a dead-end.

It’s clear that the Big Green has been singled out – and any gathering promoting those values or trying to organise in a grass-roots way will probably suffer the same fate once they get to a certain size. As corpo-rate-branded Glasto has become a fixture on the mainstream calendar, like Ascot or Wimbledon, many have turned towards smaller more ‘grass-roots’ festivals. Niche festivals have bloomed across the British landscape. No matter what your bent, be it faerie wings or S&M, there’s probably a muddy weekend in a field for you. Of course this isn’t the fi rst time that Britain’s had a thriving festival scene. See previous SchNEWS’ for how the free festival scene came under ruthless attack from the forces of Babylon (or just skin up for an old hippy and listen to them bang on about the glories of the White Goddess Fayre or Torpedo Town). Some have tried to go down the quasi-THE HIPPY, HIPPY SHAKEDOWN continued…BIG GREEN GATHERING SHUT DOWNlegal route, such as Strawberry Fair and even Glastonbury, until the aptly named Mean Fiddler intervened in 2002. Unfortunately the corporate dollar is never far behind. Witness how Glastonbury went from a fence-jump-ing free-for-all where the festival organisers built the infrastructure, but the fl y-pitchers, buskers and random naked lunatics made it a real festie rather than a fenced in, heavily policed corporate theme park.The Big Green was an exceptional fes-tival, which managed to leap through the legal process while being crew-heavy and retaining a lot of the free-festival atmosphere (Not all of course – we still had to put up with plod wandering around site). It was a unique gathering place for fringe movements, from eco-activists to crop-circle nutters. We’re not just banging on about festivals being free because we miss the good ‘ol days – there’s a huge difference between being a punter who has a whole experience laid on for them (e.g. Glasto’s themed areas with helpful stewards pointing you in the direction of the consumer delights), and being part of a fes-tival/free party where everyone’s responsible for the entertainment, and even infrastructure like welfare. A crowd that feels it owns an event behaves differently to one that feels it has paid to have an experience. The fact that undercover police now feel free to operate and arrest people, without any back-up, for cannabis use or nudity (See SchNEWS 684 and 603) at festivals has a lot do with the sheep-like behaviour of punters – a mentality that our masters are keen to see enforced.In the SchNEWS offi ce we’re hearing rumours that people aren’t going to be put off – alternative sites are being looked at and people are heading to the West Country anyway.

minutes of meetings held between organisers and the authorities

Undercurrents: more-insight-into-closure-of-big-green

What price security? Brig Oubridge, Chair of the Big Green Gathering, reports on how new anti-terror laws may herald the end of outdoor festivals in the UK

THE HIPPY, HIPPY SHAKEDOWN : SchNews Special Report

Big Green Gathering

Amdani Juma immigration situation continues …….

At 5pm on Friday 24th July in the Market Square, he and his supporters joined a rally to highlight his predicament.

In 2003, Amdani Juma, from Burundi, was given 3 years Humanitarian Protection in the UK. Since then, he has become a well-respected community worker in Nottingham, employed by the Nottingham Refugee Forum and the Terence Higgins Trust. In 2007 he applied to stay indefinitely in the UK – but was refused. In June 2008, he was detained and nearly deported. Only after a huge campaign, was he released pending a ‘Judicial Review’.

Since his detention, Amdani has not been allowed to work, but he has continued both campaigning for refugee and asylum rights, and as an advocate of HIV prevention.

Last year, Amdani won the Trent FM / Evening Post Award for ‘Inspirational Contribution to the City of Nottingham’; whilst local MP Alan Simpson wrote:

‘I am not aware of any refugee who has made the contribution to the city and its communities comparable to that made by Mr Juma. He is an outstanding asset. Removing him from the UK would leave Nottingham (and beyond) much the poorer. There is no one, particularly within the AIDS / HIV field who could replace the work he does.’

In December 2008, the Home Office gave Amdani permission to marry, saying they would look sympathetically at his application to stay in the UK (because of his legal ‘right to a family life’) if he withdrew his application for the ‘Judicial Review’.

But no decision was made, and Amdani and his family suffered the anxiety of 6 months of ‘immigration limbo’. He recently received a letter refusing his application and threatening to deport him to Burundi. This letter gave no reasons for this refusal – and as such broke the Home Office’s own guidelines.

This is outrageous! Giving Amdani the right to stay here should be a no-brainer! His contribution to Nottingham has been huge. 6000 people signed his e-petition. Over 200 have written letters of support. He is a role model for integration and community cohesion. It would be another injustice for the government to split Amdani up from his wife and child and return him to the hostile environment of Burundi.

Now the Home Office seems to have changed their minds again, saying they will reconsider the case. But can we trust them? Isn’t it time that they simply gave Amdani the positive decision we all want for him?

A torture survivor and pro-democracy activist, Amdani escaped death more than once. He has no family in Burundi; his cousin, brother and sister are all permanently resident in the UK or the Netherlands. Human Rights groups and the UN report ongoing human rights abuses and torture in Burundi.

Friends of Amdani  http://friendsofamdani.wordpress.com

Please sign the e-petition if you haven’t: http://www.petitiononline.com/amdani/petition.html

And Meet the Man: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xyHu3GeNYk

Demo to support Amdani Juma, at risk of deportation

Protests in Support of Detained Resident [Feature]

Demo to support Amdani Juma, at risk of deportation – Mondays Pics

Amdani Juma’s deportation, Countdown, 4 day to go – Stall at St. Peters

Amdani Juma’s deportation, Countdown, 2 days to go – St Peters Stall

Demonstration for Amdani Juma’s right to stay, Market Sq, Nottingham

From weapons to wars to refugees [Feature]

Demo in support of Amdani Juma [continued Immigration Limbo]

____________________________________________
ALAN LODGE
Photographer – Media: One Eye on the Road. Nottingham.  UK
Email:                 tash@indymedia.org
Member of the National Union of Journalists [No: 014345]
____________________________________________
“It is not enough to curse the darkness.
It is also necessary to light a lamp!!”
___________________________________________
<ends>