By technical editor Matt Allard:
Over the last day or so many you will have seen the extraordinary images of the siege at a Sydney cafe which ended in the deaths of three people including the attacker. As the story was making headlines around the globe Channel 7 cameraman Greg Parker was behind the camera that gave the world a close up view the Sydney siege.
Greg was inside the Channel 7 studios that are located adjacent to the Lindt cafe when the attack occurred. For more than 16 hours Greg manned multiple cameras recording events. But that wasn’t all. When police marksmen moved in to surround the cafe they realised that Greg’s cameras were perfectly situated to keep eyes on what was going on. Instead of being asked to vacate the position overlooking the cafe the officers requested that Greg stay and assist them. His long lens helped to provide crucial intelligence for the operation – at points he was even asked to point the camera in certain directions by the police command.
This turn of events was pretty unique. In most situations like this law enforcement tries to remove news cameras and prevent filming. I have never heard of media being asked for direct help in this way. Should media help police in this way? are we taking sides? Anybody that has covered news for a long time would of been faced with this dilemma.
I have known Greg for a long time and we used to work for rival networks in Australia. On many occasions we would be covering the same story either locally or overseas. Greg is a consummate professional and his years of experience will have helped him remain calm and perform his job in extreme circumstances. Greg managed to retain a the balance between covering the news and helping resolve the crisis.
It must have been a tough judgement call and Greg and Channel 7 did what they thought was right. As a news cameraman I believe it is important to not only cover an event but to also make sure you do your best to help out if needed. It’s not always about getting the pictures. Sometimes your direct help can help save lives.
On behalf of News cameramen and women everywhere I would like to praise Greg for the professionalism and humanity he showed under very tough circumstances.
