Occupy L.A. Eviction: Is LAPD Restricting Coverage With Last-Minute 'Pool Media'?
Categories: Occupy L.A.
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| PHOTO BY TED SOQUI |
| Will the final LAPD-Occupy standoff be photographed? |
"When we don't have resources to accomodate every single outlet that wants to be there, we often do that," says Officer Karen Rayner in the media-relations office.
But a last-minute email to the LAPD's press list last night -- saying "any outlet interested in being considered for the [Occupy L.A. eviction] pool must have a representative attend this meeting, no exceptions" -- has raised some concerns among smaller-time reporters covering Occupy L.A.
(And in the case of Occupy Wall Street, the bloggers and freelancers are often the only ones getting the story right.)
We've contacted Lieutenant Andy Neiman, who heads media relations, for a full list of this year's "pool media" events. But they're usually big trials like Dr. Conrad Murray's or O.J. Simpson's, and other scenes where the police might have trouble keeping crowds at bay.
The pending Occupy L.A. eviction is a trickier beast. Police in other cities are under close scrutiny for their individual treatment of occupiers, and though the LAPD has proven a gentle giant so far (at the mayor's bidding, no doubt), their precise actions at the upcoming eviction are of great importance to Occupy Wall Street observers all over the world.
"At some time in the future, whenever they decide to shut down the park -- once it's declared an unlawful assembly -- only the 'pool' people are going to be allowed in there," says Rayner.
Neiman's "pool media" email was sent to select media outlets (not including the LA Weekly, strangely) around 5:30 p.m. on Monday evening. The notification went up on the City News Service wire (which not all outlets subscribe to) at about 6 p.m. The meeting began at 7:15 p.m.
Frustrated blogger/reporter Ruth Fowler quotes the following from an anonymous attendee of the meeting:
"They were only going to let in one media outlet for each medium (print, tv and radio) but we convinced them to let in three....the only media eligible for pool were those who were on the LAPD press release list and able to get to headquarters with an hours notice. So very few were represented at the meeting. I asked about independent radio/blogs and they said that only media with LAPD-issued badges would be allowed in the vicinity. I asked about those already at the camp and they said after the unlawful assembly order everyone who doesn't leave will be arrested, even those who are journalists. Our attorney was looking into whether there were legal challenges to be made."
Rayner tells the LA Weekly: "You can send your concerns to pio@lapd.lacity.org, but at this point in time, it's kind of a moot point. It's too late."
So we ask what the perimeter will be -- how close we can get to the camp, come eviction time.
"That's the big question of the hour," says Rayner. "That's not going to be released until right before the event occurs."
So basically, reporters can be jailed if they find themselves within this yet-to-be-announced V.I.P. area. That's a sensitive subject, after numerous journos were strongarmed and jailed by NYPD during their raid of Zuccotti Park.
The LAPD-issued badges are another area of concern. As we noted during a tight L.A. City Council meeting on NFL stadium plans:
LAPD passes are issued only to crime reporters; on each personalized application, a journalist must either prove he's on the police beat or, essentially, lie about it, or the application will be denied. For a political writer to need to prove he's buddy-buddy with the LAPD in order to avoid dickish police hassling at a purely political meeting is childish, and reminiscent of Los Angeles' overly protective, V.I.P. approach to press regulations. Like the LAPD can somehow prevent the next Loughner by screening every journalist that comes within 15 feet of a precious local politician.
Now, it appears police are using this press badge, issued exclusively by themselves, to clear the premises for the swift cleanup they're planning. (Along with the shotgun "pool media" meeting last night and, coming up, an undisclosed eviction time/place.) It's engineered it perfectly to keep up the pristine PR image that L.A. has maintained through this Occupy revolution.
Update: From the front page of today's Los Angeles Times:
The city's concern about its image was underscored Monday when police announced they would be allowing only a small group of print, television and radio journalists past police lines when the eviction is finally carried out. Police said the rules were to protect journalists from being harmed during the operation.
When they say "harmed," they're probably talking about the extensive injuries inflicted upon a couple of reporters by LAPD officers at the infamous May Day Melee in 2007 -- the same brutal police-protester clash that many believe prompted the department's delicate handling of Occupy.
And going back to 2000, the LAPD was widely criticized, and sued, for its handling of the crowd -- including indiscriminate rubber bullet-firing at member of the press -- outside the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles. Since then, they've been super cautiousabout stepping on reporters' toes.
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