UPDATE: The webinar on June 15, 2022, was well attended by 133 people and we've had great feedback. If you are a member of the media and would like to watch the 2-hour session, send a link request to [email protected] with "Wildfire Training link" in the subject line and please let us know your media affiliation. The video of the webinar will be available through August.
Downloadable resources from the webinar:
California Penal Code Sec. 409.5
"Irresponsibility could cut off journalists' access to disasters" By Tracy Barbutes, News Photographer, Jan - Feb. 2021
"NPPA News Photographer magazine story about wildfires of historic size" By Tracy Barbutes, Sept. - Oct. 2021
WHEN: Wednesday, June 15, 2022
TIME: 3-5 pm - PCT
TWO HOURS: Powerpoint and Q&A
The National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, invite you to participate in a free webinar we consider critical for the safety of everyone who must be equipped and ready to cover wildfires, which are no longer only in the Western states.
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection – CAL FIRE – will donate their time to discuss wildfire behavior, safety on the fire line, media access laws and in particular, the California Penal Code 409.5.
Chief Issac Sanchez, CAL FIRE battalion chief of communications for the Sacramento and Northern California regions, has 20+ years of experience with California wildfires. He will present a comprehensive PowerPoint session.
Also joining the discussion are NPPA members Kent Porter and Chris Post. Porter is a photojournalist at the Santa Rosa Press Democrat who has become the go-to fountain of knowledge and weather on Twitter when it comes to covering the fires in California. At the PD for 35 years, Porter was named small market Photojournalist of the Year in the 2022 NPPA’s Best of Photojournalism contest.
Post is the NPPA chair for the Safety & Security Task Force. He worked as an EMT for 20 years before becoming a photojournalist for WFMZ in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Now an independent photojournalist and consultant, Post is an expert in teaching courses in disaster management, emergency medical care and media relations for several state and federal government agencies.
Our moderator Tracy Barbutes, spearheaded this webinar to help more journalists work safely and smartly. Her first-hand experiences as a photojournalist who lives and works within fire dominant areas near Yosemite, have found her evacuating home while covering wildfires. She is a contributing writer for News Photographer magazine.
We will allow time for Q&A.
Safety for you can equal safety for firefighters and impacted communities. If we understand what it takes to responsibly cover these major events, lives can be saved.
We invite you and your newsroom - and anyone who anticpates covering disaters - to tune in to this NPPA-sponsored event in coordination with Cal Fire.
