Reporters are being trained to cover the Republican Convention like a 'war zone'

Reporters preparing for the GOP convention.

(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

published 23 May 2016

For the price of $1,195, journalists headed to Cleveland for the Republican National Convention can go into the affair with the kinds of skills needed to report in a war zone. Paul Burton, the training director for Global Journalist Security, usually counsels photographers and writers preparing to enter conflict zones like Afghanistan and Iraq, but he recently offered a special course to journalists covering the Republican convention in Cleveland, The New Yorker reports.

A retired British commando, Burton served in the invasion of the Falkland Islands and ran operations in Northern Ireland before joining Global Journalist Security. "Trump's supporters have been primed to be aggressive," the former military man told his students. "We've got a feeling something may happen, especially if Trump doesn't get what he wants."

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Next: a maze called the Old City, in the rear of the warehouse. In one scenario, a mock Trump rally, a tape of Trump's voice played ("The money that's being drained out of our economy is enormous"), while six instructors, posing as amped-up supporters, set upon the press. "Get the f--k out of here!" one yelled. Another yanked on the photographer's camera strap and shouted, "F--king scumbag!" The journalists retreated to safety."You did well," Burton said. "You're not going to be able to reason with them. You're not going to get any good interviews. All you're thinking of is trying to deescalate and get the hell out of there." [The New Yorker]

Desperate times do indeed call for desperate measures, it seems. Read more about how journalists and photographers are preparing for the convention in The New Yorker.

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.