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                            Police review actions of TV crew at office protest


  
Catherine Rolfsen and Miro Cernetig
VancouverSun.com
Thursday, May 24, 2007


The ransacking of the premier's Vancouver office by anti-Olympic activists has triggered a police review of Premier Gordon Campbell's security and the role a television station may have played in fuelling the fracas.

"Frankly I am concerned to see the media there, filming that, and almost directing some of the activities that took place by some of those people," Campbell told reporters Wednesday.

The television branch of Radio-Canada, CBC's French network, and anti-Olympic documentary filmmaker Conrad Schmidt were inside the premier's office during the incident. It remains unclear how -- or whether -- they were informed of what was to occur there.

CBC-TV said the network expected police to search its offices Wednesday night.

Vancouver police Const. Tim Fanning said police are reviewing Radio-Canada's involvement in the raid, during which three members of the Anti-Poverty Committee trashed the office and issued a "symbolic eviction" to Vanoc board member and Campbell adviser Ken Dobell.

"We appreciate that journalists and camera people are invisible and just there to report things," Fanning said. "But I guess there's that fine line and that debatable line that if they know a criminal act is going to take place and their presence may escalate a situation, is their responsibility to not go into that place or is it their responsibility to phone police?" he asked.

For years, all that has separated the B.C. premier's downtown office from the public has been a simple electronic lock and a receptionist, who asks who is at the door through an intercom, which is how activists posing as flower delivery people gained entry at around 2 p.m. Tuesday.

Officials in the premier's office and the RCMP, which is charged with his safety, have begun a review of security, a spokesman for the premier's office said Wednesday.

Radio-Canada confirmed its presence at Tuesday's incident, but spokesman Jeff Keay wouldn't disclose how it found out about the event.

Anti-Poverty Committee organizer David Cunningham said Wednesday he sent news agencies a fax Tuesday morning calling a press conference at the committee headquarters in the Downtown Eastside.

When about 20 reporters and camera people had gathered, Cunningham said he read out a statement that a symbolic eviction was in progress at the premier's office, giving the address. Cunningham said many reporters then left to cover the office raid.

Footage of the raid was shown by Global BC and CTV Tuesday night, but neither of the news agencies had crews in the office at the time of the raid.

Global BC news director Ian Haysom said he didn't know about the protest or the press conference, but Global later acquired the footage from Radio-Canada.

In Tuesday evening's newscast, Global said its footage was from "a local media outlet who happened to be at the premier's office on an unrelated event."

Haysom said he made sure the Radio-Canada footage was gathered with editorial integrity, and that the camera operator was not complicit in the raid.

CTV said in its Tuesday evening newscast that it purchased its footage from an anti-2010 documentary filmmaker.

That filmmaker was Schmidt, who made the documentary Five Ring Circus. Schmidt said he's not affiliated with the Anti-Poverty Committee, although he gave it a copy of his footage afterwards.

He said he received an e-mail from the Anti-Poverty Committee inviting him to the press conference. When he arrived, at 1:30 p.m., he was redirected to the premier's office.

Schmidt said he arrived shortly after the activists had entered the office. Radio-Canada was already there, he said, but wouldn't tell Schmidt how it found out about the protest.

When he finished filming, Schmidt said he offered to sell his footage for $1,000 to a CTV crew that had arrived on the scene. The crew agreed, but Schmidt said he hadn't received the money Wednesday.

CTV would not confirm Schmidt's statements on Wednesday.

Schmidt said he was shocked by what happened at the premier's office, and said he won't cover Anti-Poverty Committee events in the future if he thinks they will be violent.

"This is the first time that they have done something like this," Schmidt said. "Everything prior to this I'd say was peaceful."

There is no question the media was manipulated by the Anti-Poverty Committee, said University of B.C. journalism ethics professor Stephen Ward.

"I think it's one of those cases that puts journalists in an impossible position. They don't want to be manipulated by groups who want particular types of coverage," Ward said. "On the other hand, they want to show the public what this group is doing."

He said Tuesday's events raise a lot of ethical questions about the media's relationship with protesters and police.

If the media was tipped off about the protests, Ward said news directors should judge whether they were being invited to report on criminal activity, and consider calling police if they suspect a serious criminal act may be committed.

Ward also said the media should be transparent with its audience about how its footage was collected and why media were there before police.

"The impression could be in somebody's mind that the media was too close to this group," Ward said.

Ward said he wouldn't use coverage unless it was filmed by his own news agency, in order to maintain independence.

Recent years have seen a slow and steady ratcheting up of security around the premier and government.

The legislature, once almost wide open, has in the post-9/11 years seen installation of electronic locks triggered by passes assigned to individuals working in the legislative precincts. There are video cameras above the legislature's doorways, recording all who enter and leave.

There is also low-profile but constant security for the premier.

Campbell is usually accompanied by at least two armed RCMP officers. When he jogs in Victoria, he has two RCMP jogging partners.

crolfsen@png.canwest.com

mcernetig@png.canwest.com

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