Hey hi! If you’re thinking about covering protests:

Hold your phone horizontally

Don’t feel like you have to talk every second, sometimes narration actually hinders a story

Do block your mic if a standerby is loudly losing their shit

I just watched an arrest where folk were so loud about being outraged about the arrest they drowned out the experienced organizers trying to loudly explain what was happening for the record

Keep in mind what you’re doing and if you can maximize that outcome

Particularly if someone is injured and arrested, try to get video of their injury and their face, clearly narrate what’s happening, ask them if you can who to call for them

Post that if it feels safe; for instance posting video of me with an eye out would have been useful

Often people being arrested will try to yell their names at least; upset crowds can drown that information out.

If you’re recording don’t be the loud crowd.

If you do happen to get footage or pictures of an injury or unjust arrest there’s no need to immediately post it but do try to track the person down and see if the footage will help them piece together their timeline.

This advice is aimed at folk who happen to be operating cameras; often primary sources are just people with phones who happened to be recording when something notable happens

Best practice for amateurs is to narrate things like “we’re now at the intersection of x/x streets” or “there are about x protesters and x police here right now”

Amateur video is so so so helpful to piecing stories together later

What isn’t terribly helpful is vertical video in which the only audible sound is someone yelling “fuck you” for ten solid minutes; it might be how you feel at the moment but it’s not evidentiary later.

This advice is also not meant for people who simply stream themselves for their own records or for limited audiences

Ain’t nobody being snobbish over here but there are some best practices if you’re adding to the records of police brutality