AddThis SmartLayers

Newspaper office attacked following riots coverage

A newspaper office was attacked after pictures of suspected rioters were published on the front page of the paper.

The attack on the Bristol Evening Post on Thursday night saw windows smashed and paint thrown at the building. That day the title had carried what editor Mike Norton called a ‘forthright front page’ (pictured left).

On the front of the Northcliffe owned paper were pictures of a number of clear CCTV images of people wanted in connection with the riots  and looting under the headline ‘Shame on Them’, urging readers to help identify the criminals.

Seventeen panes of glass were shattered at the front entrance of the four-storey building in the city centre. The incident was caught on the newspaper’s CCTV at 2.50am.

Mike told HTFP: “It was quite shocking that they have gone out of their way to do as much damage as they could. It was a three minute attack and they used a scaffolding pole.”

Mike said the attack may well have been connected to the Evening Post’s forthright criticism of the rioters as nowhere else in the city had been targeted. 

He said security will now be increased at the post and CCTV footage has been passed to police, adding: “I’m 100 per cent sure they will be caught.”

Staff at the office, on Temple Way, are working as normal and police are currently investigating the incident.

As stories over the riots continue, the National Union of Journalists is urging  journalists not to bow to political pressure to hand over material which could be used to track down rioters.

David Cameron wants journalists to hand over footage and images of the rioters to the police but the NUJ said it is important not to allow the police to use journalists as information gatherers for their purposes, adding that it would make it more dangerous for journalists if criminals knew the footage may be used in evidence.

5 comments

You can follow all replies to this entry through the comments feed.
  • August 15, 2011 at 10:18 am
    Permalink

    The Bristol Evening Post likes to style itself as a paper for the whole of Bristol. Yet its editorial stance is frequently partisan, simplistic and, at its worst extremes, guilty of whipping up tensions between communities. I don’t condone violence of any sort, but I’m not surprised that some people have felt moved to do this. Frankly, the Evening Post is so aggressive towards some sections of the community that it was only a matter of time before this aggression was reciprocated.

    Report this comment

    Like this comment(0)
  • August 15, 2011 at 10:22 am
    Permalink

    As far as I can see (and it’s difficult) the pix are mainly identity shots. What happened to “presumed innocent until found guilty”? And why are newspapers doing the police’s job? This means that press photographers will now be branded as agents of the police and treated accordingly. Or isn’t that important?

    Report this comment

    Like this comment(0)
  • August 15, 2011 at 10:33 am
    Permalink

    I have been a member and now life member of the NUJ since I was 18. I am incensed and disgusted by the union’s reported advice to journalists not to hand over footage of rioters so they can be tracked down. Which side is the NUJ on – law and order or Mob Rule OK UK! In any event I would guess any footage has been published anyway. So it is pointless advice.

    Report this comment

    Like this comment(0)
  • August 15, 2011 at 2:52 pm
    Permalink

    As I understand it, most of the damage was sustained by the Amey office on the ground floor. The BEP offices are on the floors above.

    Report this comment

    Like this comment(0)