LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – 24.11.10. Students and school pupils join a demonstration in central London to protest against government plans to rise tuition fees and to make cuts to the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) on Wednesday 24th November 2010. Tens of thousands of students from across the country protested and occupied buildings in the second day of mass action within a fortnight. (Photo by Marc Vallée/marcvallee.co.uk) (c) Marc Vallée, 2010. All rights reserved.

Link: Click here to view more pictures.

Clients: Pictures are available for rights managed editorial licensing. High resolution images are available on request.

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – 24.11.10. A young man stands in front of a vandalised police van in Whitehall as students and school pupils join a demonstration to protest against government plans to rise tuition fees and to cut the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) on Wednesday 24th November 2010. Tens of thousands of students from across the country protested and occupied buildings in the second day of mass action within a fortnight. (Photo by Marc Vallée/marcvallee.co.uk) (c) Marc Vallée, 2010. All rights reserved.

“NUJ Student Journalists Conference” – National Union of Journalists.

I’m one of the speaking at the NUJ Student Journalists Conference tomorrow. There will be three panel discussions on – Starting out as a journalist, Investigative Reporting and Journalism – The International Perspective.

Here is the full list of speakers – Kevin Maguire, Associate Editor of The Mirror, Helene Mulholland, political reporter at The Guardian, Paul Mason, Newsnight’s Economics Editor, investigative journalist and author Shiv Malik, Heather Brooke, FOI campaigner and author, Marc Vallée, photojournalist and investigative journalist, Jim Boumelha, President of the International Federation of Journalists, Foster Dongozi, General Secretary of the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists and Jennifer Dube, reporter at Zimbabwean newspaper The Standard. Charles Atangana, a journalist from Cameroon, will also speak on his fight to remain in the UK.

Click here (PDF) for the full agenda and to book a place click here.

Publication: The Financial Times, 17 October 2009. PDF.

“Met closes down anti-police blog” – Paul Lewis, The Guardian.

“Fit Watch campaigners describe how they were arrested and bundled to the ground” – Paul Lewis and Marc Vallée, The Guardian.

“Video: Arrested for asking a policeman for his badge number” – Paul Lewis and Marc Vallée, The Guardian.

“Police image library raises Orwellian concerns” – Michael Peel and Marc Vallée, The Financial Times

Last night police shut down the website of the anti-police surveillance group FITwatch. FITwatch has a history of challenging police surveillance and breaches of civil rights and I have reported on them for both The Guardian and The Financial Times.

The website was shut down at the request of CO11, the Metropolitan police public order branch, after FITwatch issued advice to students fearful of arrest after the Millbank demonstration last week.

“Our advice was simply good sense based on the understanding we have of police operations”, said Val Swain, a FITwatch activist. “We don’t want to see students arrested, convicted and criminalised for what was an entirely justified action.”

The Metropolitan police applied to the websites host to suspend the site on the grounds that it was involved in ‘criminal activities’- specifically, ‘attempting to pervert the course of justice’.

“This is an attack on freedom of speech,” said Emily Apple, another FITwatch activist. “The police don’t like what we do. They have seized a flimsy excuse to shut us down, and are trying to silence criticism of the police, and support for political dissent”

Late last night the #FITwatch hashtag on Twitter was trading high. My colleague Paul Lewis at The Guardian was on top of this and has already reported on the police action.

This one may have already backfired on the police.

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – 10.11.10. Student protesters and police clash outside the Conservative Party headquarters at Millbank in central London on Wednesday 10th November 2010. Early in the day 50,000 students and supporters marched against the governments plans to rises to tuition fees to £9,000 per year. (Photo by Marc Vallée/marcvallee.co.uk) (c) Marc Vallée, 2010. All rights reserved.

“Protecting journalistic material” – londonphotographers.org

“A journalist protects the identity of sources who supply information in confidence and material gathered in the course of her/his work” – NUJ Code of conduct.

Last week many National Union of Journalists (NUJ) members reported on the events outside the Conservative Party headquarters at Millbank in central London. The clashes between police and student protesters was of great public interest. Many frontline journalists, at great personal risk, gathered news content for the purpose and informing the wider public of the events of the day.

The police have started their criminal investigation, for many hours the police did not have police photographers or evidence gatherers at the scene. It is likely that the police will turn to photographers, journalists and media groups for material that was gathered.

It is a fundamental journalistic principle not to hand over material, to the state or elsewhere. It is not the role of journalists to collect material for the police.

As Tim Gopsill and Greg Neale wrote in, Journalists – 100 Years of the NUJ, “On a practical and important level, if angry crowds get the idea that journalists are going to hand over pictures to the police they are likely to turn on them.”

A journalist is entitled not to voluntarily hand over material that the police request and can require the police to seek a Court Order from a Judge. A journalist can then make representations to the Judge if they wish. This applies both under the Police & Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) and counter-terrorism legislation. The European Convention on Human Rights, Article 10, Freedom of Expression may be engaged, in relation to confidentiality of sources and material, and also Article 2, Right to Life, as to the safety of journalists.

If you are approached by the police for your material you should contact the NUJ before you do anything. If you are a member of the London Photographers Branch you can contact me or during office hours the NUJ Legal Department on 020 7843 3721. If you urgently need help you can call the 24hr NUJ emergency legal helpline on 0800 5877530.

We will get you legal advice and support in dealing with the police request.

Note: This article, written by me, was originally published by the London Photographers Branch of the NUJ.

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – 10.11.10. Student protesters and police clash outside the Conservative Party headquarters at Millbank in central London on Wednesday 10th November 2010. Early in the day 50,000 students and supporters marched against the governments plans to rises to tuition fees to £9,000 per year. (Photo by Marc Vallée/marcvallee.co.uk) (c) Marc Vallée, 2010. All rights reserved.

“Student fees protest: ‘This is just the beginning’” – The Guardian.

Link: Click here to view more pictures.

Clients: Pictures are available for rights managed editorial licensing. High resolution images are available on request.

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – 10.11.10. Part of the 50,000 strong march organised by the National Union of Students and the University and College Union against the governments plans to rises to tuition fees to £9,000 per year on Wednesday 10th November 2010. Later a section of the protest turned violent as protesters and police clashed outside the Conservative Party headquarters at Millbank in central London. (Photo by Marc Vallée/marcvallee.co.uk) (c) Marc Vallée, 2010. All rights reserved.

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – 06.11.10. A young man on an anti-racist protest in central London on Saturday 6th November 2010. The march was called by Unite Against Fascism and supported by the group Love Music Hate Racism to demonstration against racism, fascism and Islamophobia. (Photo by Marc Vallée/marcvallee.co.uk) (c) Marc Vallée, 2010. All rights reserved.

Link: Click here to view more pictures.

Clients: Pictures are available for rights managed editorial licensing. High resolution images are available on request.

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – 06.11.10. National Union of Journalists (NUJ) picket line outside BBC Television Centre in White City in west London on Saturday 6th November 2010. NUJ members staged the second of two days of industrial action over proposed changes to the BBC pension scheme. Many BBC news programmes across both radio and television have been cancelled due to the strike action. (Photo by Marc Vallée/marcvallee.co.uk) (c) Marc Vallée, 2010. All rights reserved.

Link: Click here to view more pictures.

Clients: Pictures are available for rights managed editorial licensing. High resolution images are available on request.

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – 06.11.10. Michelle Stanistreet, National Union of Journalists (NUJ) deputy general secretary reads the front page of a national newspaper on the picket line outside BBC Television Centre in White City in west London on Saturday 6th November 2010. NUJ members staged the second of two days of industrial action over proposed changes to the BBC pension scheme. Many BBC news programmes across both radio and television have been cancelled due to the strike action. (Photo by Marc Vallée/marcvallee.co.uk) (c) Marc Vallée, 2010. All rights reserved.

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – 05.11.10. BBC journalists on a picket line outside BBC Television Centre in White City in west London on Friday 5th November 2010. National Union of Journalists members staged the first of two days of industrial action over proposed changes to the BBC pension scheme. Many BBC news programmes across both radio and television have been cancelled due to the strike action. (Photo by Marc Vallée/marcvallee.co.uk) (c) Marc Vallée, 2010. All rights reserved.

Link: Click here to view more pictures.

Clients: Pictures are available for rights managed editorial licensing. High resolution images are available on request.

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – 05.11.10. Paul Mason, Newsnight’s Economics Editor and NUJ Rep, speaking to BBC journalists on a picket line outside BBC Television Centre in White City in west London on Friday 5th November 2010. National Union of Journalists members staged the first of two days of industrial action over proposed changes to the BBC pension scheme. Many BBC news programmes across both radio and television have been cancelled due to the strike action. (Photo by Marc Vallée/marcvallee.co.uk) (c) Marc Vallée, 2010. All rights reserved.

“Marc Vallée – An apology” – National Union of Journalists.

“I’m (still) a photographer not a terrorist!” – marcvallee.co.uk

The National Union of Journalists has apologised to me over an “error” in a submission to the Home Office on counter terrorism powers.

“We recently submitted our contribution to the government’s Rapid Review of Counter Terrorism Powers.

“We apologise unreservedly to Marc for our error.”