Israel/Palestine Conflict Coverage

[Inspector Sands]

The AP evacuation earlier.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymhHsuHy...=emb_title

Very odd seeing the inside knowing that less than an hour later none of that existed any more.

How the heck do you prioritise what to take, obviously they're taking camera equipment and presumably some sort of kit for doing lives or sending back video so they can continue working, but both organisations will have lost years of work as well as equipment.

I wonder how insurance works for them, would they have even been have been able to get cover for such a location, and if so do pay outs happen for military action even if its deemed to be illegal?

[valley]

but both organisations will have lost years of work

I imagine all of that would've been backed up, surely? I know very few media organisations where data only exists in one place, even in tape-world.
Equipment is always replaceable (to the extent that some large media organisations self-insure equipment), data much less so.

[rkolsen]

I haven’t heard this elsewhere. But NBC News reported that BBC News was also working out of the building that was bombed that housed the AP and Al Jazeera. Is it possible the BBC was subletting a work space from the AP?

Don't think so, you'd think the BBC would have mentioned it if they were - they have only mentioned AP and AJ as being resident in the building. Of course, this is the sort of information which may well be kept under wraps for various reasons.

They generally are secretive about foreign bureaus in conflict zones. But this wouldn’t be a bureau. Most likely a workspace.


I was wondering if one of the organizations would set up a camera (say an old one) and leave it on the roof running. They probably couldn’t get all the rack equipment out and the satellite dishes off. So leave it uplinking would be an interesting feed. Obviously it would cut out but it would show the strike.

[valley]

Sky have sent Mark Austin out to Jerusalem, on air from 5pm.

[Markymark]

I was wondering if one of the organizations would set up a camera (say an old one) and leave it on the roof running. They probably couldn’t get all the rack equipment out and the satellite dishes off. So leave it uplinking would be an interesting feed. Obviously it would cut out but it would show the strike.

I doubt beyond perhaps a couple of cameras, and a laptop or two, they would have got anything out.

[Inspector Sands]

I imagine all of that would've been backed up, surely? I know very few media organisations where data only exists in one place, even in tape-world.
Equipment is always replaceable (to the extent that some large media organisations self-insure equipment), data much less so.

I imagine IT arrangements and connectivity vary for bureaus but then I wouldn't imagine that there's a lot of 'data' to back up. They'll go out and shoot, edit and send back to base, and they'll have remote access to the newsroom production system (ENPS in the case of AP, iNews in the case of AJ). Though they'll edit on laptops and stand alone edit systems

But bureaus are in my experience tend to be self sufficient entities, they're there to serve the main newsroom but largely get on with it in their own way. They will probably have had their own collection of rushes and archive that they'll have built up for their own edits. I remember a colleague of mine who was a news archivist having to badger bureaus for rushes of significant stories and getting them sent through the post. Even these days where everything's digits and non-linear I don't think they'll be another copy of everything they have.

But there's also the non-tangible things, they're not just operations that were formed out of the box, they evolve and develop over time. Obviously the people will be the same and new equipment can be brought in but largely they'll be starting from scratch

[Inspector Sands]

I was wondering if one of the organizations would set up a camera (say an old one) and leave it on the roof running. They probably couldn’t get all the rack equipment out and the satellite dishes off. So leave it uplinking would be an interesting feed. Obviously it would cut out but it would show the strike.

A nice idea but with under an hours notice to get out that sort of thing would be the last thing on their minds. They were too busy getting their stuff out and also helping their neighbours, one of the younger AJ reporters based there was telling how she was helping evacuate families from their flats (the building was part residential).


A camera on the roof wouldn't have seen much anyway, an uplink wouldn't have been needed these days with WMT and similar. Heck you could do it with a mobile phone these days. I assume that's what they were using once out of the building, the live shot of the tower did pixelate occasionally. I did read that there was some disruption to Gazas Internet after he strike.


Your idea reminds me of the Docklands bombing in 1996ish which happened near to Canary Wharf Tower, then home to L!ve TV. They were evacuated but pointed a camera out of the window pointing down towards the bomb site and left that on air.

[Inspector Sands]

I doubt beyond perhaps a couple of cameras, and a laptop or two, they would have got anything out.

They might well have had a grab bag or two ready to go. Either ones intended for an evacuation like this and/or ones to grab in a hurry when they need to get out to a story.

I remember a story about a broadcaster in London who had some kits made up so they can grab one, rush out and broadcast using something like LiveU. Not long after a terror attack did happen just round the corner.... and the police locked down their building and no one could get out :?

[technologist]

Your idea reminds me of the Docklands bombing in 1996ish which happened near to Canary Wharf Tower, then home to L!ve TV. They were evacuated but pointed a camera out of the window pointing down towards the bomb site and left that on air.

Only because they could not contractually intercept the down links from their sat trucks at BT Tower …..
They had far better pictures !

We need to just remember the sacrifice of those who cover the wars in the world…
not only the people we see in air ..but the cameras and links folk ..producers ..fixers
https://www.bbc.co.uk/academy/en/article...2112133406

[Brekkie]

The important thing here is the people got out.

[Inspector Sands]

The important thing here is the people got out.

Absolutely....and of course if that wasn't the case then I wouldn't be talking about the less important things