Live News - A Survival Guide - International Federation of Journalists

CHAPTER 3Riots and civil disordersPHOTOGRAPHER KILLED INVENEZUELA CLASHESPhotographer Jorge Tortoza, 48,was shot and killed whilecovering clashes in Caracasduring political upheaval inVenezuela in April 2002.Although wearing a press vest,Tortoza was shot by gunmen onnearby buildings believed to bemembers of the security forces.STUDENT JOURNALIST SHOTCOVERING RALLYJournalism student JimmyHigenyi was killed instantly inUganda when police opened fireon a rally he had been sent tocover as part of his course.Tutors at United MediaConsultants and Trainersassigned Jimmy to cover a rallyorganised by the UgandaPeople’s Congress in Kampalaon January 12 2002.The Government banned therally and when a large number ofpeople gathered, police fired intothe crowd. Jimmy was hit andkilled instantly.Source: Committee to ProtectJournalists (CPJ)IMPROVISE◆ A magazine/newspaper canbe inserted under a jumper asa make-shift anti-stab vest.◆ A hardened baseball hat canprotect your head.‘The riot got out of hand… itstarted to get difficult tobreathe’Ram Ramgopal was the producer of a TV crewreporting riots in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India, inApril 2002. He learned valuable lessons about howto prepare for problems.“At 10.30pm we received a call that a riot had broken outin Gomtipur. Four of us, camera, producer, correspondentand sound, went in the car wearing body armourand military style helmets. The police and the state policewere there including the Rapid Action Force.“We set up in the middle of a little area close to the policeand fire station. There were a lot of alleyways. As long aswe were together we felt pretty safe. The riot was in frontof us and behind us was a town square. The real problemwas when the riot got out of hand and the police began touse tear gas. It started to get pretty difficult to breathe.“We had left our towels and water back in the car and Isaid I would go back one kilometre and get them. Therewere no lights. There were police posts every 50 metres.The police were there in a patrol car but they were beingpelted with stones and they moved away. I realised I wasmoving too slowly and I came out and made a dash for it.I was struck by a stone or a rock. I had a superficialwound.“I was cut and swollen. I told the driver to go in but he wasvery reluctant. There were acid bottles being thrown. Wepushed in with the car and met up with the others.“In retrospect I would definitely have had all of us take ourmedical kits with us. We needed to carry water to dealwith tear gas so that we did not need to split up. Thecorrespondent was really retching.“As a new father I found myself thinking ‘Is it worth it?’ ■46