Violence and Threats of Violence for News Crews

By Deborah Horne
Seattle Local Board Member

The news reports out of Northern California and Roanoke, Virginia, were ominous: “In the early morning of July 2, 2015, two news crews were on the Embarcadero covering a homicide that occurred the night before. As the crews were getting ready for a live shot, they were robbed at gunpoint of their camera equipment. One camera man was struck with the pistol and sustained a head injury. The other three victims were not injured.”

That was on the San Francisco Police Department’s Facebook page. My KIRO 7 news director, Jake Milstein, once worked with the photographer who was pistol-whipped.

Then, nearly eight weeks later, the morning of Aug. 26, 2015, the truly unthinkable happened in my home state. On live television, a “disgruntled former employee” of WDBJ TV cut down two young people, a reporter and a photographer, in the bloom of their careers. 

It sent a chill through newsrooms across the country. Many of my colleagues initially worried the killer might be a terrorist. There was some relief when he turned out to be someone who was known to the television station. But then came the realization that one of our own was the lethal threat.

We have, thankfully, not faced that kind of violence here in the Pacific Northwest. But it certainly gives pause to any of us who cover the news.

Most of us and our stations gear up when we cover stories that we can anticipate will be violent, like the WTO anniversaries and, more recently, the May Day riots. But the greatest fear is when we are covering a story that devolves to violence in the most unexpected place and at the most unexpected times. My photographers and I have been threatened from Mount Vernon to South Tacoma and nearly everywhere in between. And it happened most often when we least expected it. Usually someone had died violently and we, the easiest and most universally despised target, took the brunt of their anger.

How did we escape without injury? Luck, was part of it. Perhaps the person wasn’t going to attack us after all. And especially, since many of us have been in the field for a long time, we usually resort to our wits, judge how dangerous the situation is and, when necessary, leave.

But Roanoke raises new concerns: How does one protect oneself from a former colleague, who knows our vulnerabilities, our Achilles’ heel, who knows how we operate? No one wants to be injured covering the news. No story is worth our lives.

SAG-AFTRA is committed to the safety of its news and broadcast members. Last year, the union launched its Safety4Media campaign to provide important tips and information to keep safe on the job. Additionally, S4M catalogs news stories regarding violence against reporters in the United States and abroad. Members can also report confidentially any safety issues and concerns they have on the job at info@safety4media.org. If safety is a concern, members should always first contact their news director, assignment desk and union representative. SAG-AFTRA also maintains a 24-hour, toll-free safety hotline for all members at (844) SAFER-SET/(844) 723-3773.

This item was originally featured in the September 2015 local newsletter.