With reporters shot and snapped up, question advocates or those covering protests, targets are news today

More than two dozen journalists were injured or snapped up while covering protests against immigration attacks in Los Angeles, which led to the target of press freedom groups targeting whether law enforcement deliberately targeting the story. Journalists are with rubber bullets or pepper spray, including an Australian TV reporter who hit while doing a live shot, and a New York Post reporter left with a giant belt after getting a direct hit. A CNN crew was briefly detained and then released on Monday night. The Reporters of the Advocacy Group Without Borders said there have been at least 27 attacks on journalists – 24 of law enforcement – since the beginning of the protests. The committee to protect journalists, the first amendment coalition and the freedom of the Press Foundation, was one of the groups to express their concerns to the Kristi secretary in the home country safety. In a letter, they said: “Federal officers appear to have deliberately targeted journalists who do nothing more than their work that covers the news.” Name did not answer, David Loy, legal director of the first amendment coalition, said Tuesday. A mention spokesman did not have an immediate comment for the Associated Press. According to experts, the apparent hostility towards journalists, or a disregard for their role and safety, became especially evident during protests after the death of George Floyd in 2020. An troubled indication of a decrease in press freedom is the rapid escalation of threats facing journalists in the United States, says Bruce Shapiro, executive director of the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma Columbia University. Although most journalists who cover wars receive training and safety equipment, it is clear that many – especially freelancers – do not have similar protection if they have been assigned to events such as the Los Angeles protests, he said. “It’s not like covering a war zone,” Shapiro said. ‘But there are some very specific skills and strategies that people should use. The first amendment is just as strong as the safety of the journalists who cover these events. ‘ On Sunday, Australian journalist Lauren Tomasi was shot in the leg by a rubber bullet while lived, with a microphone in her hand, reported from protests at the center of Los Angeles. The widespread video shows how she cried out in pain and held her lower leg as she and her camera operator quickly moved away from a police line. She later said she was safe and unharmed. New York Post photographer Toby Canham looked out the 101 highway when he was hit. He spent on Monday in hospital with whip and neck pain and left with a red mark on his forehead. Shortly before he was shot, he said he saw someone throwing a water bottle with liquid to the authorities. “I completely understand in the position where you could be injured,” Canham said. “But at the same time, there was no justification to even direct the gun to me and pull the trigger, so I’m a little pissed over it, to be honest.” Ben Camacho, a reporter at the local news website The Southlander, reported twice. “Unsure what hit me both times, but they hit like a sled and without immediate warning,” he wrote online. “Elbow is wrapped with gauze and the knee is weak.” Photo journalist Nick Stern stood near some people and waved with a Mexican flags when he was shot in the thigh. He later underwent emergency operations. “I thought it was a live round because of the pure intensity of the pain,” he told the AP. “Then I went out of the pain.” Lexis Olivier-Ray of La Taco, an alternative independent media platform, thought he was placed safely with some television points, but that pepper balls were shot at him. Some reporters may have had less care: one posted a cut from the film he shot at him about 10 meters (9.1 meters) of a police officer with a gun. Not all the incidents involved law enforcement. AP photographer Jae Hong was kicked by protesters on Monday and hit with sticks, with his protective equipment that enabled him to escape injuries. A TV reporter from Los Angeles and her crew were forced away by protesters, and he shouted loudly: “Go from here.” CNN aired a video of his correspondent Jason Carroll and his crew with their hands behind their backs led away from a protest march by officers. They were released later. In many conflicts in the past, journalists had some protection because opposing parties had to take up their side of the stories, Shapiro said. Now many journalists are considered superfluous by people who have other ways to deliver their messages, or a target by those who want to spread fear, he said. It illustrates the importance of proper training and protection, he said. For reporters in the middle of the story, they must plan carefully – to be aware of exit routes and safe zones, in tandem with other work and in constant communication with their news rooms. “We all need from big news stores to television to citizen journalists,” he said. “We need them on the street. But we need to be safe. ‘ ___ AP -correspondent Jake Offenhartz in Los Angeles contributed to this report. David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social