A protest unfolded in the Alder Plaza of Salt Lake Community College’s Taylorsville Redwood Campus on Tuesday, Feb. 17.
Around 50-60 students, faculty and staff gathered to express concerns about the SLCC-run Veteran Job Fair hosting the Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection recruiters as the job fair continued inside.
Journalistic responsibility to safety is essential, and protestors desiring personal safety is completely valid, of course. I still think there was some wiggle room for documenting the protest from more proactive points of view (e.g., close-up photos of the public speakers who people were already recording or photos from inside the building).
I’d also like to point out that many protestors were already wearing coverings to safeguard their identities, which isn’t to say that the photog should have therefore gone wild with photographing everyone, but rather that there existed an understanding among those protesting that third-party documentation was certain. So, I think a greater balance between safety and journalistic documentation could have been struck. Just my 2¢, though.
More front-facing photos would have been great.
I agree — but there might be reason for the way it was done. Perhaps protesters were wary of being targeted — or perhaps the authors were wary of making protesters targets. And I have to add I think it’s sad that people can’t speak out without facing those legitimate concerns.