Photography in council chambers for accredited media

Luke Edwards

Grant Haven Media

Members of the news media should have an easier time doing their jobs, thanks to planned changes with Norfolk’s procedural bylaw.

Councilors directed staff to review its rules regarding photography during council meetings, following a deputation from David Judd, who covers the municipality for the Port Dover Maple Leaf. Judd also penned a letter to council regarding the rules, which was supported by other members of the local media including the Simcoe Advocate.

“I’m not asking for something we haven’t had. We had it for a long time, and it’s worked well, so I don’t know why suddenly it’s been changed,” Judd said.

“Recently our job became more difficult. The county clerk began enforcing the code of conduct ban on taking photos and videos during council meetings.”

Photos and videos can lend stories a sense of credibility, Judd said, showing readers a visual of what happened that backs up what their written or spoken words suggest.

While Judd acknowledged the clerk was simply following the rules passed three years ago that state no photography or video during meetings, he said the former clerk told him in an email after the new rules were passed that they weren’t intended to apply to members of the media.

“The plan was to exempt the media through a companion policy, unfortunately that didn’t get done,” he said.

Saying better late than never, Judd urged council and the county to move forward with a companion policy now. He suggested an accreditation system could be put in place to differentiate reporters trying to inform the public with others who may be taking photos in bad faith.

“I understand there are reasons for wanting a tool in the code of conduct to prevent bad actors from using photography and video recordings to intimidate, manipulate or embarrass people at meetings,” he said. “But reporters aren’t the bad actors. We’re partners with you, helping to inform the public.” Since enforcing the photography ban, council has at times waived the procedural bylaw to allow for photos, including two occasions for the Simcoe Advocate.

“Do you have any other suggestions on a better way to make that work?” asked Coun. Chris Van Paassen.

Judd said the accreditation system would work better, in part because reporters can never quite be sure when video or photography may be needed to help tell the story. He also accepted some restrictions to ensure reporters aren’t disrupting things, such as a ban on flash photography.

Where it could get tricky is with the rise of so-called citizen journalism and online outlets.

“How could you tell whether they’re responsible enough? Well there are ways to do that,” Judd said, suggesting the County could require samples of stories they’ve written before granting accreditation or asking them if they’re being paid to cover the meeting.

“I think there’s a distinction between what I would call professional reporters and people who call themselves citizen journalists and all they’re really doing is writing for a social media site, often with some kind of axe to grind or campaign that they have going for them and I think you need to separate those two out,” he said, adding people running for council shouldn’t be able to suddenly call themselves a journalist and be allowed to take photos. Coun. Kim Huffman said councillors have discussed the need to keep the community engaged.

“I think pictures go a long way with telling the story, and I think you’re right, it does add credibility,” she said.

Coun. Linda Vandendriessche made a motion, supported by council, to send the issue back to the clerk’s department to come up with some options to allow reporters to take photos and video. The report is expected to be before council at May’s council-in-committee meeting.