WANE photographer Ron Harmeyer, who spent 48 years at the Fort Wayne CBS affiliate before retiring earlier this year, died recently. He was 68.

Harmeyer was inducted to the Indiana Associated Press Hall of Fame last year for his work as a photographer for the station. WANE remembered him in a recent tribute segment (video above).

“He always appreciated the opportunities this profession offered as well as the wonderful experiences it creates,” WKRG news director Mike Rausch, a former colleague of Harmeyer’s, wrote in a memo to WKRG staffers last week. “I hope there’s some ‘Ron’ in all of us.”

The Associated Press announced today the launch of a new web-based video library catered to local TV broadcasters.

AP Video-US will feature stories from the U.S. and around the world with all of the elements (b-roll, nat sound, soundbites, and a suggested script) necessary to produce a segment for TV or the web.

“AP Video-US was developed in response to local broadcasters’ need for footage that can be downloaded quickly, edited easily, and then adapted for on-air and digital use,” the AP said, announcing the launch. Read more

“Today we not only covered the news, unfortunately we became the news,” KAPP-KVEW anchor Kristi Paulus told Washington viewers on Friday evening.

Earlier in the day, a KVEW vehicle accidentally rolled into the Columbia river while a photojournalist, after just parking the SUV, was setting up his camera gear. At first, he tried to stop the vehicle from rolling into the water but he eventually gave up and jumped out of the way.

KAPP-KVEW posted a photo of the submerged vehicle on its Facebook page Friday, reporting that “something failed mechanically while it was on the shore and in park with the engine off.” Read more

WJBK, the Fox O&O in Detroit, is paying tribute to Dale Pegg, a photographer who has worked at the station for 42 years (video above).

“I wouldn’t do anything else,” Pegg said. “I’ve met a lot of wonderful people, on and off camera. It’s been a good career. But it’s time for me to move on.”

A veteran KING photographer ended up with a bloody cheek after a scuffle with protesters in downtown Seattle earlier this week.

Richard Departee, who has worked at the Seattle NBC-affiliate for more than 30 years, was shooting video of the May Day protests when he found himself in the middle of a group wearing “face masks and dark glasses.”

“I think as soon as they saw me it was like ‘Hey get out of here, you know, scum,’ and started pushing me,” Departee said. The camera was still rolling as the group surrounded him and one of the protestors “popped me in the face,” he said.

Watch Departee’s video of the incident after the jump. Read more

The NPPA and the New York Civil Liberties Union, along with New York law firm Davis Wright Tremaine, today filed a federal civil rights lawsuit on behalf of photojournalist Phil Datz, who was arrested last July as he was attempting to film the conclusion of a police chase on Long Island.

Datz was on a public street when he was arrested.

“Mr. Datz’s arrest was not an isolated event,” said Robert Balin, a partner with Davis Wright Tremaine and lead counsel on the case. “Suffolk County police officers have a pattern of unlawfully interfering with the recording of police activity conducted in plain view. As a journalist, Mr. Datz has a responsibility to cover police activity in public places.” Read more

The KSTP photographer involved in an altercation with a police officer at an Occupy Minneapolis rally will ask the police department to refer the matter to the city attorney for an independent investigation into the incident, the station says.

Chad Nelson will meet with the Minneapolis Police Department’s internal affairs division today. Nelson was covering the Occupy Minneapolis rally over the weekend when he was violently shoved by a police officer, knocking his camera to the ground. Earlier this week, police chief Timothy Dolan called Nelson and apologized to him for the incident, according to KSTP.

“From my preliminary review of the video regarding Mr. Nelson, the officer’s interference does not appear to be necessary,” Dolan said in a statement earlier this week. “If that is the case, I’m very disappointed.” Read more

As police arrested protesters at an Occupy Minneapolis rally on Saturday night, one officer attacked a KSTP videographer as he attempted to film the arrests.

In an amateur video (above) of the altercation, a police officer can be seen violently shoving KSTP videographer Chad Nelson, knocking his camera to the ground. Read more

Following an incident in which Chicago police handcuffed WGN reporter Dan Ponce, Mayor Rahm Emanuel said this week that he doesn’t “believe in handcuffing reporters.”

“Whether I like what you write or whether I like what you report, you have an essential role in telling the truth,” Emanuel said to a group of reporters on Monday, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.  “I want to say this: You won’t be handcuffed. That I can assure you today.”

A little over a week ago, Ponce and WMAQ photographer Donte Williams were handcuffed outside of a hospital as they attempted to report on the murder of a six-year-old girl.  Police detained the pair while they were situated on a median in a street alongside the hospital. Read more

KSTP photojournalist Brad Jacobs announced that he will retire next month after 55 years with the Minneapolis ABC-affiliate.

“My job has been like an ongoing college education, learning so much and meeting newsmakers,” Jacobs said in a statement. “Where else can you go and see so much firsthand?”

Jacobs, who will officially retire on April 20, joined Hubbard Broadcasting’s KSTP on April 14, 1957.

“Loyal staff members are a great asset to any organization,” Hubbard Broadcasting chairman Stanley Hubbard said in a statement. “However, loyal staff members who continue to show their loyalty and their dedication to excellence for 55 years in one organization exemplify the best.”