Advice for independent journalists covering violent demos

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq95DvG8ZWE]

Journalist Mark Covell was beaten unconscious by Italian police during the 2001 Genoa G8 summit.

He speaks here about the power of independent media and how independent journalists should buddy up, train and prepare to cover potentially violent demos so as to keep safe.

He was speaking before a screening of Black Block, a documentary about demonstrators attacked in cold blood by Italian riot police. It was shown as part of the Human Rights Watch Festival 2012 in London.

I did the interview with fellow independent journalist Glenn McMahon, who used an iPhone and iRig mic to shoot a no-edit video interview based on the visionOntv mobile phone interview template. The idea is to shoot short videos that can be rapidly uploaded to the internet with minimal hassle, vastly increasing the chances of making media that gets seen.

If you’re interested in the Black Block the film, which I highly recommend, you can get a sense of its shocking story in the following trailer.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYoOe5cGiUg]