Journalists Cross Fingers They Won’t Be Arrested Covering GOP Convention Protests

News organizations have been preparing for the possibility of their employees covering political unrest during the Republican National Convention, with some offering training and equipment typically reserved for war correspondents. Yet even a body armor-clad reporter or photographer could miss the action if arrested.

The National Press Photographers Association recently conducted a series of trainings with Cleveland (OH) police to help minimize the chances that journalists will spend a few hours, or a night, in jail. Mickey Osterreicher, general counsel for the NPPA, described preventing the arrest of journalists as a “triple win.” “Officers and departments wouldn’t get sued for violating people’s constitutional rights,” he said. “Citizens and journalists would be able to exercise those rights. And ultimately the public would be informed as to what’s going on.” Osterreicher held those hour-and-a-half training sessions with police in June in Cleveland ― and more recently in Philadelphia (PA), site of next week’s Democratic National Convention. The NPPA received a grant from the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation of the Society of Professional Journalists for the trainings. “We greatly appreciate those departments’ willingness to help avoid unnecessary and improper interference, harassment and arrests of those doing nothing more than exercising a constitutional right,” the Society of Professional Journalists said.