By Diana Hartley
In the 11 years since I’ve graduated high school, the news has been dominated by public protests. From the Occupy movement and Arab Spring in 2011, through the near-monthly Black Lives Matter protests that continue to this day, the 2010’s were dominated by citizens taking their societal grievances to the streets, both here in the U.S. and internationally.
While all of our eyes were on the protests that happened in just about every town in America last summer, I realized there was a component that I had not considered before: the reporters.
The reason we have firsthand accounts and media from the protests and demonstrations that happened throughout 2020 and in the decade preceding it was because someone went there to document it. Not only that, but these people were putting themselves in danger so that the stories could reach the general public.
In May of last year, a photojournalist named Linda Tirado became blinded in one eye after being struck by what she thinks was a rubber bullet fired by police. Many other journalists have reported similar claims of targeting by police during protests against excessive force by law enforcement. In Washington, D.C. on January 6th, there were several videos posted to social media of the pro-Trump mob that stormed the capitol assaulting and harassing members of the press.
We are used to seeing images of war reporters on the news decked out in body armor. Last year, armor-clad reporters became a common sight on American streets.
The press is often called “the fourth estate”, referring to it’s capability to hold to account the other three branches of government. Much like government employers though, we have a tendency to see “the media” as a monolith, and individuals disappear inside the organization. We don’t usually take into account that the journalists that go to protests are just as much part of the action as the demonstrators, counter-protesters, police, and those rendering first aid.
Regardless of how important the cause may be to them personally, it takes a lot of dedication to the craft to put life and limb on the line to get the story.