How are the media preparing for NATO protests?

How are the media preparing for NATO protests?

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(Flickr/Swamibu)

The City of Chicago has been gearing up to play host to the second NATO summit to occur in the United States. In addition to the more than 60 heads of state scheduled to attend the summit, the event is expected to draw roughly 2,000 journalists from around the world.

Foreign dignitaries and journalists aren’t the only out-of-towners we’ll see, though. The summit is expected to draw protesters from near and far, although it’s hard to say how many or what the protests will be like.

To play it safe, it seems the Chicago Police Department has been preparing for worst-case scenarios. The city has spent more than $750,000 to buy some 8,500 additional face shields for officers, and additional officers have been sent from other cities around the country.

So what are journalists—who are also tasked with staying near the action—doing to prepare? Over the weekend, the Chicago Headline Club held a workshop for journalists on how to cover NATO and what to do to prepare. Judith Matloff, Coordinator for Safety Training at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, imparted her tips on how to prepare. She’s a veteran of covering international summits, and she shares more of her knowledge with us on Thursday’s Afternoon Shift.