Black Bird, Black Bird on the coast of Vancouver Island
kjdakin's Curious Vein |
Pictures of far away places, musings on life and politics, both global and personal |
Yesterday I read an article by CBC (http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/09/28/bc-vancouver-riot-media-warrants.html?cmp=rss) about how the Vancouver police intend to serve warrants to media outlets in order to gain access to riot content. I found myself becoming very concerned by the number of votes that readers made, claiming that they agree with the Vancouver police departments actions.
It has been made very clear that many Vancouverites are deeply enraged by the actions of the rioters. Indeed, some were so enraged that they demonstrated it by sending hate mail to people such as 17 year old Nathan Kotylak, who came forward and apologized for his actions.
While the anger is understandable, I fail to see how perpetrating hate in response could ever be excusable. To do otherwise is akin to legitimizing cruel and violent behavior whenever someone decides that it is "well deserved."
As far as the media being compelled to hand over images of rioters, I think that is a very dangerous road for the whole of free media and I believe it goes against the interests of a democratic society.
Is the desire that people be held accountabled for their actions unreasonable? No, but the long term result of using what is suposed to be impartial media to convict those people could be devastating. If media and individual journalists can't protect their sources legally, then media will forever be seen as suspect rather then an objective observer in the eyes of the public. Journalists can not do their jobs if the people they wish to speak with or document visually, fear that what they say or do could be used against them by police or in a court of law. Indeed, in practice, media would become the blatant third hand of law enforcement, forever available to be called forward as evidence.
While it might sound good that guilty people could be more easily held accountable for their actions, in practice I believe it would only make people excessively suspicious of journalists that are working to document our societies many faces. Uncountable opportunities to tell a fair and balanced story would be lost in peoples newfound fear of the media. There are very good reasons that journalists hold dearly the creed to protect their sources. Indeed, many journalists are ready to go to jail to protect a source.
I recently shot a cover for Monday magazine about struggling young men in Victoria. Many young men don't match the stereotype of a young hobo with dreads, yet they have experienced great challenges in their short lives.
So I got some stuff published in the Med Hat News. After interning there during April I created some good working relationships and when I found myself with a swath of images from the insanity after the Game 7 loss, I figured I would see if they could use some shots. Turns out they did!
Naked absurdity took to the streets on Saturday, June 11. Droves of barely dressed people all met at the BC Legislature at 3pm and mounted the bicycles for a breezy ride in the sun.
Indifference, indifference is the strongest force. It makes everything it touches meaningless. Love, Hate don´t stand a chance against it. It lets neglect and decay and monstrous injustice go unchecked. It doesnt Act, it allows. And that´s what gives it so much power. - joan d.vinge from ¨the Snow Queen¨-
Greetings,
I recently graduated with a diploma in journalism/photojournalism from the Written Image program at the Western Academy of Photography in Victoria, British Columbia. Upon graduation I garnered some awards: Best Social Impact Writer, Best Overall Image, Best Colour Image, Best Portfolio, and Best Photojournalist (which was accompanied by a cheque for $500.00).
I have spent the last seven years working and volunteering extensively in Latin America, Western Canada and Europe. During the summer of 2009, I co-lead a two-month-long European cycling tour with Global Agents (a non-profit that explores innovative ways, such as micro credit, to deal with global poverty). I headed the logistics for the tour and my role included over six months of planning. With 20 riders spread across Canada, the United States, and Ireland, it was my responsibility to coordinate the day to day logistics of the ride and to encourage group cohesiveness.
While living on my own in Colombia and a number of other Latin American countries I learned to speak Spanish fluently without ever entering a classroom. This experience honed my ability to work independently and I believe shows my self-starting nature and my keen interest in whichever community and culture I happen to find my self.
I intend to continue volunteering for worthy organizations, such as Global Agents (globalafc.org) and Education Generation (http://educationgeneration.org/) who I will be shooting for this fall.
My long term professional goal is to become deeply involved in international and conflict journalism both as a photojournalist and as a writer so that I may complement the power of images with the context of story. For that reason I went to Haiti during the one-year anniversary of the earthquake and I will continue to document the issues I feel need to be covered.
Feminism is not female supremacy, but the desire to see every woman, man and child define themselves without fear for their physical or mental wellbeing, at the hands of those that fear their power.
-Bugg Thoughts
