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How do you cover a demonstration when are
the target of crowds displeasure?
The California Aggie, The University of California at Davis' daily student-run
newspaper, ran a cartoon in Friday's edition that depicted a student inadvertently
diverting a laser-guided missile from Kosovo to Hart Hall on campus, which
houses the Ethnic and Gender Studies Program here at U.C.D. According
to the author of the cartoon, it was meant to poke fun at the battery-operated,
hand-held laser-pointing devices some students have as well as the school
administration's lack of support for the Ethnic Studies Program.
But some students and faculty members of the school along with sympathizers
didn't see it that way. They used that cartoon as a springboard to voice
their feelings about the Aggie staff, which they feel is not sensitive
to minority issues, and about racism at the school in general.
The demonstration was held on the steps of Memorial Union facing
the main quad at noon on Tuesday. That location is by far the most traveled
throughout the day by the University community. Roughly 200 students protested
the Aggie and the University's handling of racial issues. The demonstrators
ripped up copies of the newspaper and taped their mouth shut symbolizing
their perception that they have no voice on campus.
I happened to be in the darkroom processing an assignment I had already
shot that day when Florence, the photo editor, asked me to go with her
and photograph the protest; she didn't have to ask twice. Both of us traveled
light, coming upon the crowd with just a body and a wide-angle zoom lens.
Naturally, they knew that we were with the Aggie, and I was the subject
of some heckling and insults from the crowd. They also knew their story
would end when the crowd dispersed without our presence. It was a double-edged
sword: they were upset at the Aggie, but they also wanted us to publicize
their cause.
| As a journalist, I tried to stay as objective
as possible and cover it like it didn't involve me. It was very difficult
to do so when they accused the Aggie, and therefore me, of condoning
ethnic cleansing. That banner particularly upset me. |
After the young women in the middle asked me
to stop photographing her while she was ripping up copies of the Aggie
and I continued, the young women on the right moved to block my lens.
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| I nearly lost my relative-cool in one instance. I was
photographing protesters sitting on the ground, mouths taped, ripping
up copies of the Aggie when one objected to my photographing of her
and ordered me to stop. I said something along the lines of ³You
are in a public area, I have a right to photograph you. Sorry.²
She seemed satisfied with that argument, but another protester chastised
me for not ³respecting her privacy,² and proceeded to put
her hand in front of my lens. I decided enough was enough, asked her
to please respect my right to photograph, and left the situation.
The photograph was not worth the trouble it was becoming. |
Perhpas the most ludicrious claim of them all:
the Aggie condones 'ethnic cleansing.' |
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I hope that my coverage of the event wasn't biased, but I cannot
really judge that myself. My photograph of the woman with the sign
that says "Stop the Aggie" ran on the back page
with the story jump. The photo editor decided not to run the photograph
of the young-women who didn't want to be photographed.
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