Newsrooms Should Reevaluate Security Following Capital Gazette Shootings, States Poynter
Following the shootings at the Capital Gazette newsroom in Annapolis, Md, news organizations around the U.S. upped their security, reports Poynter, which added that in NYC, police dispatched units to several news organizations to guard against copycat or coordinated attacks, USA Today reported. Since the Capital Gazette is owned by Chicago-based Tribune Publishing Co., formerly Tronc, law enforcement there maintained real-time communication with the FBI and Annapolis police while checking in with local media outlets to stay ahead of any threats. And, similar measures were taken at other newsrooms.
According to Poynter, federal officials told news organizations those precautions are common in the wake of mass shootings like the one at the Capital Gazette, where five journalists were killed in the 154th mass shooting of the year. But in the future, newsrooms obviously can’t rely on 24/7 protection from local police to ensure their safety — and as several journalists noted on Twitter yesterday, newsroom security is notoriously lax as budget cuts make it harder to keep full-time security staff.
The Poynter post added: “I think that news organizations of all sizes have to think very seriously about the security of their offices and access inside your building,” said Frank Smyth, executive director of Global Journalist Security — a journalist training company based in Washington, D.C. “News organizations like The Washington Post and The New York Times do this very well, but smaller news organizations, of course, have seen less need for security in the past — and I think it’s time that they reevaluate those concerns.”
More here.
