KOVR reporter Checkey Beckford and photojournalist Dennis Marin were at the center of a news story that has swept across the country this week–so close that they felt the sting of pepper spray.

Beckford and Marin were positioned right behind a row of seated UC Davis students as a police officer in riot gear methodically dusted them with an orange stream of pepper spray last Friday afternoon. Beckford and Marin had a front row seat to an incident that has had major ramifications for the university and its community, one that has sparked a national debate and become a symbol for the Occupy protest as a whole. Read more

On the heels of last week’s media blackout in Zuccotti Park, the New York Observer has a round-up of the continuing debate about the rights of reporters covering the Occupy movement. The Observer points to an interview deputy commissioner of public information Paul Browne gave to NPR on Friday:

He went on to explain that no reporters were arrested at Zuccotti Park during the raid, where reporters cooperated and were held two blocks back. As for the arrests of reporters made later that day elsewhere in lower Manhattan, they might not have happened with more oversight.

“Had we had somebody there, DCPI would probably try to accommodate a reporter getting caught up in a situation with a group pushing through police lines,” he explained. He added that the five reporters had their arrests voided.

Mr. Browne made no defense for keeping media out of the Zuccotti raid altogether, explaining that a press pass does not mean the automatic right to cross police lines. Read more

A misunderstanding between a WNBC news chopper pilot and the air traffic control tower in New York City yesterday evening fueled mounting frustration that the media is being denied full access to cover the Occupy Wall Street protests.

The chopper pilot reported during the early evening newscast he was being evacuated from the area over Canal Street, where protesters were on the move toward the Brooklyn Bridge. NBC owned-and-operated WNBC reported that information on Twitter, where it was retweeted by more than 100 people.

The station later issued a correction, saying the NYPD had not issued an evacuation order and the chopper, which had briefly moved to nearby Foley Square, had returned to its original location. A WNBC spokesperson told TVSpy the erroneous report was the result of a misunderstanding between the chopper pilot and the control tower. Read more

When Bay area anchors bid goodnight to viewers on Wednesday, the Occupy Oakland protests were largely peaceful. But by the time the 4:30 a.m. newscasts rolled around this morning, there was a very different story to be told.

All six local stations in San Francisco — ABC O&O KGO, CBS O&O KPIX, NBC O&O KNTV, Fox-affiliate KTVU, independent station KOFY and My-TV affiliate KRON — started their morning newscasts with news, and pictures, of overnight riots in Oakland that led to more than 100 arrests. Read more

A disgruntled Occupy Wall Street protestor confronted WNYW‘s John Huddy this morning, as he was covering the latest developments in Zuccotti Park, and the situation quickly turned ugly.

“This is somebody I’ve come across several times for the last few days,” Huddy told viewers following the altercation.  “He threatened to stab me in the throat with a pen.  He ripped the mic out of my hand.”  Video inside… Read more

KNTV reporter Cheryl Hurd was hit with a cloud of tear gas while doing a live report Tuesday night near where a confrontation had just occurred between police and Occupy Oakland protesters.

Hurd began her report in the street as tear gas billowed in the background but had to quickly take shelter in a KNTV news van.  She finished the segment sitting in the passenger’s seat, wiping tears from her eyes (video above).

In this week’s episode of “5 Things You Need to Know This Week,” we go on the road with President Obama, call dibs on #Occupy spots, sample the new McTV menu at McDonald’s, and… there was one more thing… oh yeah, the World Series.

For more videos, check out Mediabistro.tv, and be sure to follow us on Twitter: @mediabistroTV

“I’m one of you!” KPTV reporter Jamie Wilson told a group of protestors while covering the Occupy Portland demonstrations.

“I have student loans. I can’t get out of debt,” Wilson said. “I had a ridiculously high-priced college education and my real world job has not given me the salary to pay it off” (video above).

A graduate of Linfield College, Wilson has been a reporter with KPTV since 2000.

The news vans of KTLA, KNBC, and KTTV were recently vandalized near the Occupy LA demonstrations as anti-government protestors scrawled large anarchy symbols on them.

As FishbowlLA reports, KTLA reporter Eric Spillman tweeted Tuesday night:

Read more

A WNYW news crew was maced and beaten by police on Wednesday night while covering the Occupy Wall Street protests.

Reporter Dick Brennan and photographer Roy Isen got caught in the middle of an altercation between police officers and a group of protesters, at the end of a day spent covering the ongoing demonstrations in lower Manhattan.  Brennan was struck in the stomach with a baton and Isen was hit in the eyes with pepper spray.

“Since the arrests over the weekend, these demonstrations have been mostly peaceful.  That’s until tonight,” Brennan reported.  “And I can tell you because my photographer and I got caught in the middle of things when the pepper spray and the night sticks started flying.” Video inside… Read more