In one instance, Noah Berger, a photojournalist of 25 years on assignment for the Associated Press, describes being attacked repeatedly by federal agents with batons and pepper spray, even as he was clearly not participating in the protest and, in a later incident, leaving the area.
Funny thing about this one, they're appealing to authority by citing Noah Berger's "25 years of experience" but ignore the more im iportant question:
How much experience does Noah Berger have in providing coverage in areas where civil strife and conflict is actively ongoing? And by "Civil strife" I mean riots, or civil wars?
It is my understanding, through reporting from a person who
did cover civil unrest in person in Egypt, Ukraine, and a number of other locations, the major media outlets typically have a class(which he'd gone through) which those outlets required before sending them over seas into "hot zones." A requirement that many news outlets have likely been
ignoring when it comes to events here in the US.... Especially if they've been buying into the whole hogwash reporting that's been going on about the protests in Portland
being peaceful.
One of those things that class would teach a reporter is there are two places you do NOT want to be when violence is considered likely.
1) With the protesters. (You'll get hit with crowd control munitions)
or
2) In the immediate vicinity of the police. (You'll get hit with what the protesters are throwing at the police)
You either setup "well back" from the front lines of which-ever side you're reporting from. (Admittedly, getting behind the Federal Police lines is not possible in this case, as they're holing up inside buildings) Or you find somewhere that is perpendicular to the "protest line" and the "police line" and provide your coverage from there.
If you setup in the crowd, and the crowd gets violent, don't be shocked when you get hit with riot controls.
When they're using crowd control munitions, they're not going to be able to read/vet "your press credentials" from 20+ feet away, and anything they're likely to be able to see from 20+ feet away is also
able to be faked, so watch out, and AntiFa has already demonstrated a willingness to either impersonate the press, or assert they are a member of the press even as they're being anything but a "neutral observer" like the press is allegedly supposed to be.