The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has asked journalists not to give
police photos or film footage from recent loyalist violence.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has written to journalists who
covered the rioting and disturbances, asking them to hand over material
which could be used in prosecutions.
In the letter, detective chief superintendent Philip Wright says: "The PSNI
is seeking your assistance in supplying broadcast, and indeed un-broadcast
material, including still photography, taken by news crews and photographers
over this period.
"The purpose will be to investigate, identify, and where appropriate
prosecute those who may have been involved."
NUJ Belfast branch chairman, Kevin Cooper, said: "It's not NUJ policy to
hand over journalistic material to police. Neither newsrooms nor individual
journalists should do so.
"In public order situations, the police's role is to gather evidence,
whereas the role of journalists is to bring issues to public attention.
Journalists must be totally independent of the state."
Cooper said that if journalists believed their material would be sought
through the courts, they could make use of an International Federation of
Journalists' facility which allows material to be placed outside the
jurisdiction of the state seeking it.
"If the PSNI seek court orders, media organisations should resist them
legally. Such orders have been overturned before as in the case of the
Sunday Tribune's former Northern Editor, Ed Moloney, who had faced up to
five years imprisonment and unlimited fines for refusing to hand over his
notes."
