How to win friends - burn their vehicles

NEWSWATCH: Mail & Guardian reports that during the Western Cape farm protests yesterday, an IOL journalist's car was set alight and destroyed.

By Rod Baker

10 Jan 2013

For more:

Mail & Guardian: Western Cape farm protest: journalist's car set alight... Fortunately no one was injured... this time around, but so much for "peaceful protests".
Naturally, we can expect those organising the protests will condemn the action but blame the violence (and the destruction of the car) on "a Third Force" or "criminals using the protest for their own ends" or whatever.
It's never any of the protesters/union members who are to blame, is it?
But it's also not the way to gain sympathy for your actions and begs the question: In what way does destroying the vehicle of a journalist - who is there simply to report on the protest - further your cause?

About Rod Baker

Rod Baker is Content Director at Bizcommunity.com. A journalist since before computers, he worked on a wide range of magazines and, in his youth, rose through the ranks from being a lowly and abused sub-editor, to a high and still abused editor and publisher. He has been editor and publisher of a number of magazines, as well as a newspaper. He has edited many books, and written a number too. Email him at rod@bizcommunity.com.
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