Sideways News

There were two subjects I came to investigate in Copenhagen: democracy and journalism, both to the little backdrop of a rather large international negotiation. Having had a taste of the democracy already, the lack of it in official talks and some extraordinarily impressive versions of it outside, Tuesday was the time to focus on journalism.

Like the direct actions and demonstrations that have happened so far, the organisation of reporting here seems to be everyone for themselves. That is until you look at the amazing voluntary and donation-funded infrastructure put in place by the Climate Collective.

The organisation describes itself as a broad network of people and groups working to prevent catastrophic climate change – can’t argue with that. I am typing this with an internet connection with which to cross-check my facts in a warm, first-floor room in central Copenhagen. To look at the Indymedia site, iCOP15.org, is to get a taste of the extraordinary quantity and variety of output in print, audio and video formats. You’re probably as well placed as I am to judge its qualities, certainly with me stuck in the weird bubble I’m in right now.

I will certainly attempt a more sober, journalist-headed assessment of it all in due course, it’s pretty much central to what I’m trying to get a handle on in my book project.

What better way to taste the journalism process than by just getting back into it? Somewhat of a dilemma here - how to separate the personal from the actual? I don’t really believe in objectivity, I think it’s an impossible state of being for a sentient human and to get caught up in debating it is to risk chasing your tail. We are each unique products of our birth, our upbringing and the experiences that have brought us to the present – it’s impossible to escape.

Reuters boasts values of speed, accuracy and freedom from bias. Speed and accuracy are pretty uncontroversial but freedom from bias? Hmmm. What I try to do is to report accurately, sod the speed, and to aim for an honest account of events, given with relevant context.

My choice of story today is a minor one, nothing like some of the dramas here. It does encapsulate one of the issues swirling Copenhagen’s meeting rooms, its conference halls and sleet-sodden streets – the gap between what western politicians say about sorting out the climate versus what they’re actually doing.

The story also evokes similar questions to those raised when journalists embed themselves with the military – how to draw a line between reporting and the attachments that come from sharing personal space, food and social interaction with people for days on end?

I don’t know the answer but here’s what I see as the necessary health warning: I now know these couple of dozen French activists having travelled from Paris with them. I admire their pluck and ways of getting things done. Their sense of fun, friendliness and tolerance of pretty trying and intense conditions are impressive. So don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Less fat chance of Danes releasing seized chip oil
French activists pushed and pulled their bus through the streets of Copenhagen on Tuesday in an effort to ridicule the Danish police into releasing their fuel – a recycled chip oil they mix with diesel to power their vehicle.

Chanting and dancing in the falling snow, the several dozen protestors accused police of adding to the climate change problems their politicians are meant to be sorting out during two weeks of international talks.

Police seized the oil last Friday as the bus travelled the streets of Danish capital, saying they suspected it would be used to make explosives. They have refused to release it until at least December 20, after the summit ends, meaning the French must either stay put or buy ordinary diesel for their return to Paris. Recycled chip oil is less polluting than either agricultural biodiesel or conventional fuel made from crude oil, something activists were keen to highlight by using it to travel to Copenhagen.

Danish authorities have struggled to contain a series of demonstrations and direct actions over the last week, arresting nearly 1,000 people then releasing all bar a handful during a largely peaceful march over the weekend. On Monday night they used tear gas and water canon in a night raid on Christiania, an alternative lifestylers’ neighbourhood near the city centre.

Mathieu Gilles, a volunteer for the French group Roule ma Frite 17 which produced the oil, said the police behaviour with the oil pretty much summed up what was happening the climate talks. “It’s good to take the debate back to reality, not to one involving businesses and billions of dollars. This is about people who collected oil from around where they live, to reduce their carbon footprint, and now the police have it taken away.”

After the demonstration, which joined another involving several hundred other protestors highlighting the problems of industrial factory farming, the French activists lodged a formal request with police  for the return of their oil.

“Even if you make a request, you are not going to get your oil,” a woman officer who did not give her name said to one of the activists. “There are some people on their way to test the oil from our anti-terrorist unit,” she added.

A colleague was less discouraging to the activists though similarly surly, saying the decision to release the oil was now in the hands of Copenhagen’s chief of police, who will decide on Wednesday once he gets the test results.

ENDS