Swoop Update @ 17.30: the media update
It’s time for another Great Climate swoop update. As the Swoop continues apace and the media finally start reporting we’re starting to see the usual manipulation and misinformation from the police.
Around 2.30pm Nottinghamshire Police’s Chief Inspector, Linda McCarthy, told Sky and BBC that they were delivering “proportional policing” but that police officers had been assaulted and the peaceful stage of he protest was now over.
Sky News’ reporter on the ground Darren Little reported that he’d not seen any evidence of people assaulting police. Meanwhile there were lots of activists’ reports of police hitting protestors rather than arrest them – well, it’s less paperwork I suppose.
There was also a small victory for new media reporting. Despite all official material about the Swoop talking about shutting down or blockading Ratcliffe, Sky persistently reported that the intention was to disrupt supply.
The official Climate Swoop twitter feed tweeted at Sky News criticizing the use of language in their reports – reminding them that we are attempting to shut down the power station, not disrupt supply. Other twitterers re-tweeted the message and hey, presto Sky has changed its messaging.
See below for a rather decent report from the BBC with an interiw with Climate Camp’s own Richard Bernnard: