The Centralian advocate Fri 20 Jun 2014
Centralian Advocate; NewspaperNT
2014-06-20
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English
Community newspapers -- Northern Territory -- Alice Springs; Tennant Creek (N.T.) -- Newspapers; Alice Springs (N.T.) -- Newspapers.; Australia, Central -- Newspapers
Nationwide News Pty. Limited
Alice Springs
application/pdf
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Nationwide News Pty. Limited
https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2019C00626
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/250971
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/551835
04 NEWS FRIDAY JUNE 20 2014 CAVE01Z01MA - V1 Blaming photographer for events a cheap shot His lens stirred up no aggression from the mother, or any of those involved for that matter, and he was not asked by anyone to not take pictures of the cage car. He also did not try to take pictures of the vehicle when police moved it. The only people aggravated by the presence of a news photographer were police officers. Perhaps they had realised their actions would be questioned. Police are not above the law and their actions are not beyond questioning. I could point to dozens of cases where, in the pursuit of justice, the police have been those pursued. The photographer did not impede police in doing their job. It was a police officer who broke ranks in a bid to tell a person acting perfectly legally to stop what they were doing. Police suggesting that the media get in the way of them doing their jobs is a real stretch ... particularly in these days where everyone has a video camera on their phones and can record and distribute anything without the considerations a professional news team applies to its coverage. Justin Brierty knows the rules and plays by them. His Baby Behind Bars image is confronting and, naturally, will stir different responses from our broad community. It is also undeniably accurate it happened. this occasion, stuffed up and there needs to be discussion to prevent a repeat. Thankfully a news photographer was there to record the incident. We may otherwise never have known it was capable of happening. The waters really only got muddied when Mr McRoberts had his say on the matter, two days after first being given the opportunity and armed with some interesting insights from his officers. He turned the tables on the photographer with this comment: The presence of a news photographer was further aggravating the situation ... This is simply wrong and a cheap shot at the photographer, I assume to deflect attention from police. The photographer was not even at the scene when the girl was detained. He arrived afterwards and only became aware of the children in the police cage car because he was staying well back from where police were doing their job. CENTRALIAN Advocate photographer Justin Briertys image of a toddler in nappies locked in a police cage car with his young mother, who had moments earlier allegedly bashed him, has sparked plenty of debate. More than 650 Facebook comments on the NT News site blame everyone from the police or parents to the very fact it is Alice Springs. A great number of people see no problem with the child being put in that dangerous position. Dozens say the photographer and the media should have minded their own business. Police Commissioner John McRoberts even went as far as to say the snapper aggravated the situation, and his media statement on Sunday sparked hundreds of calls for us to report the full story. Put simply, we did report the full story. A picture was taken, within the boundaries of the law, the journalists sought an explanation from police and reported those answers. I say absolutely it was wrong of police to put that child in the cage car. I believe they had other options. I know, first hand, the deep and longlasting impact such traumatic experiences as a youngster can have. In my opinion police, on Bryan Littlely EDITORS COMMENT I am very shaken by it. It is just bizarre. I understand the police situation but its a clear illustration you have to do things better W A R R E N M U N D I N E TIMELINE TO A TRAUMATIC ORDEAL We are almost predicting the future of that childs life by putting him in a police van. Surely there were other alternatives M I C K G O O D A 1pm, THURSDAY, JUNE 12 - A member of the public called police to report that a female had allegedly assaulted a young child in Alice Springs. Police attended the scene and were directed to the location of the alleged offender who was a short distance away from the alleged crime scene. 1.15pm - Centralian Advocate photographer Justin Brierty arrives near the scene of the attack. 1.23pm - Brierty photographs the paddy wagon with the mother and baby being monitored by a male and female police officer 1.43pm - An officer tries to block Brierty taking pictures of police. .1.45 pm - Child Protection unit policeand welfare workers prepare to move from the area. The paddy wagon has at this point been shifted some 100m from its original location. No photographs of this were taken. 1.48pm - The mother and child have been taken from the scene. The only images of them taken more than 20 minutes earlier. .1.50PM - Brierty, having been given no information by police about the incident, begins talking to witnesses and takes pictures without encroaching on the police. Police continued to interview people in the area. FRIDAY - 15 Questions put to police media. Police Commis sion John McRoberts briefs the Chief Minister. SUNDAY - Article appears on front page of Sunday Territorian McRoberts re leases statement suggesting the news photographer aggravated the situation. Welcome to helloworld Alice Springs Shop 10, Yeperenye S/C Alice Springs NT 0870 (08) 8953 2266 (08) 8953 1109 alicesprings@helloworld.com.au Denis, Guillaume & the team at Alice Springs have great pleasure introducing their new name helloworld! Formerly trading as Harvey World Travel, we are all very excited to be part of this whole new travel experience and we look forward to welcoming you into our refreshed, rebranded store coming soon! We appreciate your ongoing support and as a loyal customer we want you to be one of the frst to hear the news about changes to our business. While helloworld is a new name, please be reassured that we will offer you the same great service and familiar faces youve come to trust & rely on. We are committed to sharing our knowledge, curiousity and over 30 years travel experience about travelling the world with you. These are indeed exciting times & we look forward to seeing you in store soon so that we can talk to you about a whole new travel experience. Were excited & were sure you will be too! The team at Alice Springs We are excited to share some news with you... While helloworld is a new name, please be reassured that we will ofer you the same great service and familiar faces youve come to trust & rely on. We are committed to sharing our knowledge, curiosity and over 40 years travel experience about travelling the world with you. These are indeed exciting times & we look forward to seeing you in store soon so that we can talk to you about a whole new travel experience. Were excited & were sure you will be too! Formerly trading as Harvey World Travel, we are all very excited to be part of this whole new travel experience and we look forward to welcoming you into our refreshed, rebranded store. Denis, Guillaume & the team at Alice Springs have great pleasure introducing their new name helloworld!