Report: Journalists Now Hiring Private Security

Denver Post photo

When protests turned violent in Denver in June, ABC national news hired local freelance video journalist Carl Filoreto to cover the demonstrations — and paid for armed security guards to accompany him as cops fired tear gas and projectiles at people angry over the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, reports The Denver Post.

“I never felt threatened in Denver but knowing you have that extra set of eyes on you that are there for protection, it’s very reassuring when you’re out covering that kind of thing,” Filoreto said. “You just never know what spark is going to incite a major confrontation.”

The fatal shooting of a demonstrator by a security guard working for 9News following demonstrations in Denver on Oct. 10 illustrates just how quickly something can go wrong when large crowds gather.

That day’s dueling political protests, while boisterous, had not been violent and were ending when a small group started arguing outside the Denver Art Museum while walking to their cars. It’s unclear what led the victim, Lee Keltner, and the security guard, Matthew Dolloff, to engage with each other, but the encounter turned fatal within seconds.

Until that moment, few people in Denver — including other journalists — were aware that some news outlets hire private security to escort their staffs. Media experts say it’s a practice increasingly used by local media, particularly TV stations, since the 2015 Ferguson police protests and the 2016 campaign of President Donald Trump.

In Denver, 9News and Denver7 acknowledged in statements after the shooting that they hire security guards and request that they be unarmed. Fox31 Vice President and General Manager Byron Grandy and CBS Denver News Director Tim Wieland would not discuss whether their stations provided bodyguards to journalists while covering local news.

Colorado Public Radio and its online news site, Denverite, have not, said Kevin Dale, CPR’s executive editor. The Denver Post has not hired private security for its journalists.

Broadcast journalists with their large, expensive cameras are most often at risk and more likely to hire security, multiple media experts said.