Reporters for Reuters covering the elections in the US will have protective gear in anticipation of protests after several incidents in which journalists were targeted during summer demonstrations.
Stephen Adler, the editor-in-chief of the global news service that employs 2,500 journalists, told the Press Gazette that his reporters were supplied with flak vests, helmets and gas masks, as well as COVID-19 personal protective equipment including N95 masks, the newspaper reported.
“Our concern about the safety of journalists in the US is unprecedentedly high,” Adler said. “My own observation, both here and around the world, is that wearing that big ‘PRESS’ on your chest is no longer as much of a protection as it might once have been.
“Sometimes the press are targets, or sometimes just the fact that they’re press is simply ignored,” he added.
Dozens of journalists were injured amid summer protests in the US that turned violent. The paper cited two Reuters TV crew members who were injured in Minneapolis days after George Floyd’s May 25 death while in police custody.
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