Press ganged

The presence of anarchists at the G20 summit has been blamed for an outbreak of media in London.  According to police sources, a large and unruly mob of press photographers gathered at the scene of a violent protest and began to behave in a manner which endangered public safety. 

A member of the press corps, who wished to be identified, stated that in his opinion the presence of the anarchists was a provocation that the journalists were unable to resist. 

“If they hadn’t been protesting in a public place, many of the photographs simply would not have been taken.  I’m not saying that it’s their fault I’m just saying that the situation became a lot worse than it would have been if they hadn’t been there, practically in our faces.”  

Police had warned of the possibility of media violence but the anarchists and other protesters nevertheless went ahead.  

“It’s just irresponsible of the protesters to stir the press up like this” a police spokesman said.  “We knew that something like this could happen.  As soon as the spray-cans or banners come out, the journalists appear from nowhere.  Smashing the windows at the Royal Bank of Scotland was more than they could bear.  It just gets out of hand very quickly and before you know it the anarchists and radicals are being elbowed out of the way in the name of press freedom. ” 

“We tried to keep them within the designated media area but they had us out numbered.  Nowadays every idiot with a mobile phone thinks he works for CNN.  It’s getting harder and harder to stage a peaceful, violent, orderly, anarchical protest these days.”