From the Canadian Star and Canadian Press:
Vancouver sex-trade workers need to know their rights when dealing with cameras and reporters and will be offered media training ahead of the 2010 Olympic Games, an advocacy group said.
The Prostitution Alternatives Counselling and Education Society, located in Vancouver's notorious Downtown Eastside, will hold the session in November.
"We just want our members to feel safe. ... Media attention to the area can be a little less than compassionate and we don't want them to feel like animals in a zoo," said spokeswoman Kerry Porth.
"We just want (the sex-trade workers) to be aware of what their rights are around media, including the fact that it is legal for (media) to take a picture of them on a public street," Porth said.
The society held a similar training session at the onset of the Robert Pickton trial. Pickton was convicted on six counts of second-degree murder in December 2007.
Sue Davis, a Vancouver sex worker, said that during the trial "some workers reported up to nine reporters a day trying to film them," she said. "And people asking them things like 'Do you feel safe? Did your friends die? Are you on drugs?' And then 'Thanks for the story, see you later.' " Porth said the response from those who received the training at the time was positive.
MEDIA PROTOCOL IS OUT THE WINDOW When you have ten thousands addicts in a twelve square block area and ten thousand members of the media here for a 2or 3 week visit you can bet it will be a circus.Trying to set any type of protocol, would be like trying to stop a train going down a steep hill with no brakes.The gloves will be off and i'm sure we'll need more than a bandage for the black eye we call the dtes.With the police not arresting people for possesion or the fact we have a homeless problem,let's not forget the proactive neopolitical movement's that say they represent the poor the addicted and so on, they will be out in full force confusing the media with there causes.There will be open iv useage crack smoking. girls working the streets binners and the fair we in this city see on a regular basis and tend have nothing but apathy for.But you best believe it's news to the rest of the world and our fair city deserves the coverage it gets. BECAUSE our city police and goverments have done little to change this epidemic.I have started a website to showcase the pain and suffering supported by all above, and my front page explicitly showcases the 2010addiction olympics here is a sample of one of forty videos that i currently have on the site I called it VANCOUVER OLYLMPIC TOURS http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIlHevMLnA4 editor@2010homelesschampions.ca
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