A screenshot of a Facebook video, showing a protester holding up a bag of ‘used toilet paper’ in Ollie Leader’s face
A reporter from Iliffe Media’s Kent Online was “abused “threatened” while covering an asylum protest, as one man waved “used toilet paper” in his face.
Ollie Leader, a local democracy reporter employed by TV channel KMTV (a sister brand to Kent Online), covered an anti-asylum seeker protest on 20 September.
Footage posted online by a protester shows Leader attempting to question and film protesters outside Connors House, a Kent County Council building reportedly housing unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. He was confronted by protest participant who said: “I’ve got a gift for you”, before producing a bag of toilet paper and waving it in his face.
He then led the crowd in a chant of “used toilet paper for the press”, according to Kent Online.
The Facebook video, with 1,300 likes at time of writing, features on-screen text: “KMTV came back but this time Harry had a gift for them [-] used toilet paper for the press”.
The video was posted with the caption: “Harry Hilden you had us all in stitches…that’s what you get for lying and manipulating the media.”
Andy Richards, channel director of KMTV, told Press Gazette he felt Leader was specifically “targeted” by protesters having been recognised by them.
[Read more: Journalists facing ‘appalling harassment and abuse’ amid riots]
“It’s just a sad state of affairs that reporters are feeling like they can’t do their jobs without abuse in certain scenarios,” Richards added. “I want to be clear, we’ve got a good relationship with many members of Reform. We’ve done lots of stories with Reform since they came to power here in Kent.”
Leader told Kent Online: “It was pretty alarming to become the centre of vitriolic attention, simply for doing our jobs and trying to provide a balanced and accurate record of events.
“When I approached Harry he waved what appeared to be used toilet paper in my face rather than answer any questions. Journalists should never be threatened or made to feel unsafe.”
Apprentice journalist ‘spat at’
The incident follows an 18-year-old apprentice journalist for KMTV being “spat at by a member of the public” when doing a vox pop in town, according to Richards. The incident is currently being investigated by the police.
Jason Gibbins, editor of Local News Partnerships, told Press Gazette: “Independent journalism is a cornerstone of local democracy.
“That’s why it is essential that all reporters are safe to cover events and hold individuals and institutions to account without facing threats, intimidation, or reprisals.
“Whether they are interviewing those in positions of power or members of the public engaged in legitimate protest, we stand firmly behind Ollie and all journalists in support of the right to report freely and safely.”
[Read more: Failure to tackle online abuse of journalists could prove fatal, editors warned]
Reform councillors ‘liked’ the Facebook reel
Richards added he felt “disappointment” that Reform councillors Peter Osborne and Kent County Council chairman Richard Palmer liked the Facebook post, as this “only adds to the rhetoric”.
He said journalism “is in a really difficult place at the moment”, in terms of coverage of “really important stories”.
“What I don’t want to see is words turned into anything stronger,” he said. “In some of our audio, you could hear the protesters shouting towards one of the other local reporters that they knew where he lived, and having that kind of threatening behaviour [is intimidating].
“One thing I’m certainly doing is [issuing] our reporters with body cameras…so that they feel safe, [and] people know that their actions are being reported. We’re also actively speaking to the police, and we are talking to other institutions about how we can deliver the right sort of training so the reporters understand what to do
According to Kent Online, Palmer “backtracked” when questioned about his ‘like’, claiming he had been unaware of the full nature of the incident and questioning why police had not intervened.
He added: “I would treat NOT anyone like that. [I] didn’t watch the whole clip, just thought it was someone talking to him who had a problem with his mic not working.”
Ian Carter, chief operating at Iliffe Media, said: “This was a very unsavoury incident and it is unfortunate in the extreme that Kent County Council’s chairman liked the post at a time when reasoned and polite debate is needed more than ever. We do, however, accept his assurance that he liked the footage without having watched it.”
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