[URBAN NOTE] "Toronto Star reporter arrested, ticketed after taking photos"

[rfmcdonald]

A commenter alerted me to the Toronto Star article reporting on how photojournalist Alex Consiglio was arrested for taking photos is disturbing. It's not only that I regularly take photos in public places like Union Station, it's that Metrolinx seems to be committed to regulations on photography which it selectively enforces.

Two GO Transit officers were thrown onto the train tracks — one breaking his ankle — following a skirmish with a man trying to open the doors of a moving train early Sunday morning. The station was packed with people heading home from two major events at the Air Canada Centre and Rogers Centre.

News photographers are not allowed to take photos without permission at Union Station, said Anne Marie Aikins, media relations manager with Metrolinx, which raises questions about the viability of stopping media, and onlookers, from recording news as it happens in an age of smart phones and social media.

“People take photos on the subway all the time. I’ve taken photos on the subway. So there could be an expectation that you’re not doing anything wrong,” said University of British Columbia journalism professor Alfred Hermida.

[. . .]

Aikins said working journalists need to sign a waiver before taking photos in Union Station — even though the public takes photos in Union Station all the time on their smart phones.

Aikins said the increased popularity of social media and smart phone cameras are adding new challenges for GO officers during potentially dangerous situations.

“We review the situation every time an incident occurs, as we are in this case. There are things we have to adapt to now that citizen journalism has become pretty common.”