THE NATIONAL UNION of Journalists (NUJ) has condemned the latest in a series of “attacks on the democratic function” of the media.
A video showing an RTÉ journalist surrounded by a group, some with their hoods up or faces covered, shouting at him and accusing him of working for the government has circulated online.
It comes from the scene of a protest in Coolock last week, where locals and others held a demonstration following claims that a site there was to be used to house asylum seekers.
Barry O’Kelly from RTÉ Investigates was filming the protest when a small group began heckling him, making unsubstantiated claims about “illegal men” committing crimes.
Philip Dwyer, a prominent figure in the anti-immigration movement who was at the protest, accused O’Kelly of being a “propaganda machine” and “representing government policy”.
The people surrounding O’Kelly held up phones to film his responses.
O’Kelly said: “I’m not part of the story, I’m here to document it.
“I’m not a spokesperson for the government.
“I’m entitled to be here.”
Dwyer responded: “You’re entitled to tell lies.”
Seamus Dooley, Secretary of the NUJ, told The Journal that he “wasn’t surprised” when he saw the video.
“It is typical of the treatment which journalists, both reporters and photographers and crew, are encountering from a small group in public order situations,” he said.
“Photographers in particular have been targeted and are vulnerable by virtue of being so publicly visible … they can’t hide.”
Well-known journalists have regularly fallen victim to abuse, as their high-profile makes them easily identified online and on the ground.
Dooley is among many journalists who have come out in support of O’Kelly online.
O’Kelly hasn’t commented on the incident. RTÉ also declined to comment.
Dwyer, the most prominent voice in the video, is running as an Ireland First candidate in the upcoming local elections.
A self-styled ‘citizen journalist’ who regularly live-streams at protest events, Dwyer is a former member of the far-right National Party, which he left after livestreaming from the grave of murdered schoolteacher Ashling Murphy shortly after her death.
Dooley says that those seeking election “have to recognise democratic norms”, such as letting journalists do their jobs.
A media engagement group has been set up between journalists and gardaí to help report and combat the abuse that some journalists have grown accustomed to.
“There has been a tendency by journalists to expect a level of abuse as part of their daily work, but we are passed that point now, and we are not prepared to accept it,” said Dooley.
There is often a gendered element to the abuse, he added, with women in particular being subject to “physically intimidating and threatening treatment”.
In a statement, Eamonn Farrell of RollingNews.ie, an editorial photography agency, described the incident at Coolock as “the first step in the erosion of democracy”.
“Over the last few last few days several of our photojournalists have been abused, intimidated and threatened by elements at the anti-immigrant camp in Coolock, while carrying out their legitimate function of reporting on a protest taking place in public.
“The threats were serious, forcing the journalist to withdraw,” he said.
“This development by far-right activists is gradually getting to a stage where, if action is not taken by the Gardai to protect journalists going about their work, coverage of these events will cease and the public will be deprived of seeing and hearing what is happening in their own country.”
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