DALLAS: A Full Weekend of Protests A29-M1 2006

[David]

Here is a list of protests that will be taking place in Dallas this weekend.


SATURDAY:

Sat. Apr. 29 11am-1pm
Car & Motorcycle Rally
MEETING PLACE: Parking lot - Northwest Highway & Central Expwy, south of Northpark
Mall, where we had the rally on Sat. Again, this is the shopping center that houses Tom
Thumb and Barnes and Noble.

SUNDAY:

Dallas Rally to Save Darfur, Sunday, April 30, 2 p.m., Dallas City Hall

MONDAY:

May 1st, Day of Action

Edit by ndsimm: I deleted the contact and other specific info because it leans to participation for a particular side which borders on or could be considered political. If anyone wants to go to shoot pictures and post feel free, but we cannot allow one view over another on the forum.

[PeteQ]

I think there is a line between posting the times and locations and versus how to participate in the event itself and when you include yourself (see the "we" in the post) it really steps over the line. To me that goes beyond photojournalism and into political activism. Clearly you are doing more here than trying to show where and when a phot op may take place.

After the mod edit:
Thanks for keeping the rules in place lest this forum end up like so many others.

[Lisa]

Thank you ndsimm for removing the information.

[Lisa]

No political views please.

This is ONLY information.

[David]

I just want to say I am sorry for offending anyone here on the board or breaking any rules but I would like to explain why I did what I did. I get my info about protests, demos, riots and civil disturbances from my contacts within DPD Civil Disturbance Unit, DPD PIO Officer and the press release room at the UPI. The reason I posted the way I did is that is was presented to me that way by my conatcts and in press releases that are sent out to the press which I dont think not everyone has access to. I feel lucky that I am in a position to have contacts like I do and for the past 2 months I have been active on the board I have asked if I could share this people on here and they give me the go ahead so everyone can get the cool shots for there books and I hope make some extra money on the side. I get to see alot of stuff that most people dont get to see or dont hear about and I thought others on the board would like to photograph and exprince as well. Another reason I posted in full from the press release like I did is becuase I think people would like to know what they are photographing, who will be there and how they can prepare for it. Most people dont know this but Dallas has alot of protests that the DPD has had a Civil Disturbance unit for the past 20 years with over 30 officers as there full time job. On top of that the DPD has a Diplomatic Secuirty Unit with over 40 officers whos only job is to protect dignitarys who visit Dallas. Dallas is a very poltical city and we live in very poltical times.

Again I am sorry if I broke any rules or offended anyone in any manner. I just wanted to give others the same chance I do to make some extra money and get some cool shots.

Dave

[Lisa]

Thank you for being a member on TPF. Your participation is greatly appreciated. It is nice to have a heads up on movements such as this. There are some photographers on the forum that have a passion to became a journal photographer and the information you have provided will help them get closer to their passion.

[PeteQ]

FWIW, I was not "offended" per se. There have been many discussions both here and on other sites about journalistic ethics and integrity. I think we would be naive to think that any journalist is truly 100% neutral. Images are shaped according to one's perspective of the issue, that's what any photographer does, finds a perspective on a subject that appeals to themselves and then hopefully to others. What is important is to not actively inject oneself into the event where you cease to become (IMHO) a journalist who reports the event and instead becomes an active part of the event. My post above just illustrates my thoughts that I thought your initial post stepped over the line. Hey, who doesn't from time to time. If I had a nickel for every time one of my bosses had to reel me in because I had tread across some imaginary razor thin line on some issue.....

I enjoy seeing great work from people who can cover issues that I may find offensive or just plain boring. Taking something that you may not care about or better yet, are against and putting together an interesting, fair and accurate account, that where the challenge in photojournaism appeals to me. The good PJ's can do that consistently. I wish I could. Shooting subjects that I like are easy, because I understand or feel like I am part of it. Taking the other side however, really puts me out of my comfort zone and forces me to think a lot more.

Let's say you love the Mavs and have shot them a hundred times, but tonight they are playing the Bulls (whom you dislike) and you got assigned by Bulls management to shoot the Bulls. At the end of the night would your pictures of the Bulls be as upbeat as those of the team you love? They better be or you are out of a job! I would bet that you would have to put a more conscious effort into it to make it that way. I know I would, but there is the challenge.

It sounds like you have some great contacts and that is awesome. Please let us know about ANY upcoming event you hear about. You never know when someone may have some free time to try their hand at something out of their comfort zone!

Pete

[DEMDeepEllumMusic]

Many time when David posts these locations he is pasting in the message that he was sent or found on the web so you will see the "we" included in the posts.

As to removing any links to me that is a problem since that is a source to go to early the day of the event to check to see if anything has changed about it. It isn't a link espousing David's views. Some people have travelled many miles to cover some of these events and it would be a waste of their time and energy to travel 50+ miles (I know of one TPF member who has travelled that far for these shoots) to find out that it has been moved or cancelled and they could have verified that the morning of the event.

[Lisa]

The information is listed above.

[DEMDeepEllumMusic]

Lisa that is the INFORMATION AS OF THE POST DATE, no way to verify if it changes in almost a week, and a lot can change in a weeks time.

Like I said above in the case of PJ work putting a link up that can be used to verify a protests time and location on the day of the protest I believe does not violate the rules of the board.

[David]

Originally Posted by DEMDeepEllumMusic

Lisa that is the INFORMATION AS OF THE POST DATE, no way to verify if it changes in almost a week, and a lot can change in a weeks time.

Like I said above in the case of PJ work putting a link up that can be used to verify a protests time and location on the day of the protest I believe does not violate the rules of the board.

Having contact info is very important in working as a PJ. As Deep Ellum said it gives a chance for the photographer on this board to keep up with the event he/she wants to cover. Sometimes a protest will change locations becuase of there target will change locations at the last minute or becuase of weather. I have found it very important in my work as a PJ to contact the person putting on the event becuase it will let the person know you will be out there and most of the time the person in charge will fill you in on extra stuff that will happen that is not made public.

[PeteQ]

Contact info is pertinent to covering the event...telling folks what to do if/when they skip work to participate in the event and how to get legal advice for any repercussions is not.

[Abel]

Originally Posted by DEMDeepEllumMusic

Lisa that is the INFORMATION AS OF THE POST DATE, no way to verify if it changes in almost a week, and a lot can change in a weeks time.

Like I said above in the case of PJ work putting a link up that can be used to verify a protests time and location on the day of the protest I believe does not violate the rules of the board.

agreed... but you have to cut us some slack as well... nathan saw the post that did not conform to what i have set in place here and made the apropriate changes. we have had so many flare ups in the past over political discussions and PJ photo thread turn into flame wars etc. we cut it off a head of the curve and deleted the contact info in the progress. so ok... maybe that was the best thing to do but its gone now... PM david and get the link so that you can make sure nothing changes...

Originally Posted by PeteQ

Contact info is pertinent to covering the event...telling folks what to do if/when they skip work to participate in the event and how to get legal advice for any repercussions is not.

exactly...

[lscottpht]

Thanks for the info., David!

[Bill]

PMing David or whoever posts news of a photo op will not work because they could be inundated.

Use this forum for critiquing photos and noting subject, date, and time of photo ops is the message I'm hearing. Several posts from the management have made clear No Politics. After all, Photojournalism is listed under the Showcase heading on TPF. More details will have to obtained elsewhere.

There is no place in TPF to post the kind of info that was deleted. That is the way the owners want it. They are not naive. I have seen postings by Abel on at least one other site, so management is aware of what is allowed elsewhere. That does not mean that the info cannot be made available elsewhere on the Web. Of course, people who get part of their PJ news elsewhere may choose to get all of it there.

Maybe the City Issues + News Forum of dallasmetropolis.com would be a good place for full info re covering an event in the Metroplex. There is a posting about an anti-illegal immigration rally scheduled for May, 6 in Fort Worth on there now. A site reaching out to the whole state would be better. Any ideas? Or start a news group for Texas photojournalists where you can say whatever.

Bill