Interviews, consent and safety

A camera changes how people behave and what happens to them afterwards. Film fairly and safely.

## Consent
- Tell people who you are, which organisation you work for and where the video will appear.
- Ask before you record an interview, and record their agreement on camera if you can.
- Children: get the permission of a parent or guardian, and think about whether the child should be shown at all.
- People in distress — after an accident, at a hospital, at a funeral — deserve extra care. Ask yourself whether the picture is needed to tell the story.

## Fair interviews
- Ask open questions: "What happened?" rather than "Were you scared?"
- Let people finish. Silence often brings the best answer.
- Do not edit an answer so that it says something different from what the person meant.

## Your own safety
- At protests and clashes, know your way out, stay at the edge and keep your phone charged.
- Do not put yourself or others in danger for a shot.
- Back up your footage as soon as you can.
- If the police ask you to stop filming, stay calm, say you are a journalist and show your press card.

## Respect privacy
Filming in a public place is usually allowed, but publishing someone's face in a sensitive story — a patient, a victim, a person in a shelter — can harm them. Blur, cut or leave out when in doubt.