http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/2011/11/16/nypd-press-repression-at-occupy-wall-street-eviction/"Journalists have been increasingly targeted at Occupy protests, especially during police operations to evict occupations. The eviction of Occupy Wall Street featured a number of egregious incidents, where NYPD not only did not allow the press to cover the eviction but arrested reporters and photographers for being on the scene. In fact, the day was the worst day for members of the press since Occupy Wall Street began.An NYPD inspector took a press badge from an NBC4 reporter. Only credentialed press were permitted to stand on the sidewalk in front of Zuccotti. However, CNN’s Poppy Harlow reported via Twitter the police were not letting press through to Occupy Wall Street protesters. According to New York Observer reporter Hunter Walker, CNBC, NBC, CBS, Wall Street Journal and Reuters reporters were all blocked from viewing the raid.
The air space over Zuccotti Park (which the occupiers renamed Liberty Square) was closed to all news helicopters. Both the NBC and CBS news choppers were grounded.
...The repression of press freedom is but a symptom of the militarization of police. The safety of reporters and photographers can no longer can be guaranteed by law enforcement men and women, who wield weaponry against peaceful assemblies suddenly deemed unlawful. They are, therefore, asked to embed. They are offered “tours” from police of the scene of eviction before or after but of course never during. They are forced to cover scenes from the perspective of forces being wielded by power. They report what the state wants or will permit them to report and, if they do not do so, they face forceful removal or even arrests..."Tracking Journalist Arrests at Occupy Protests Around the Country
http://storify.com/jcstearns/tracking-journalist-arrests-during-the-occupy-prot"I'm tracking, confirming and verifying reports of journalist arrests at Occupy protests all over the country since September. So far 23 journalists have been arrested, 10 of which were arrested in NYC on Nov. 15. Help me by sending tips and tweets to @jcstearns."
Associated Press Staff Scolded for Tweeting Too Quickly About OWS Arrestshttp://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/11/ap-staff-scolded-for-tweeting-about-ows-arrests.html"A high importance e-mail went out to Associated Press employees early Wednesday morning to remind them of Twitter rules in the wake of staff arrests at yesterday's local protests. "In relation to AP staff being taken into custody at the Occupy Wall Street story, we’ve had a breakdown in staff sticking to policies around social media and everyone needs to get with their folks now to tell them to knock it off," went one version of the e-mail sent from on high, as obtained by Daily Intel. "We have had staff tweet – BEFORE THE MATERIAL WAS ON THE WIRE – that staff were arrested."
The official rules note, "Don’t break news that we haven’t published, no matter the format." (Reuters spells out the same idea plainly in their handbook: "Don't scoop the wire.") Instead of getting "caught in the moment," the AP's freewheeling tweeters are urged in the e-mail to run "sensitive official AP business" through editors and corporate communications. The AP's social media guidelines were recently updated to insist, "Retweets, like tweets, should not be written in a way that looks like you’re expressing a personal opinion on the issues of the day."
As the wire reported — eventually — an AP reporter and a photographer were among at least six journalists arrested at Zuccotti Park yesterday."
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