Iam Independent Journalist Tim Pool, founding member of VICE News. I was arrested in DC during the riots but released without charge AMA!

Have you ever had word come down to report with a bias or to omit facts in order to push an agenda? Had an article edited or denied due to the information not swaying a certain way? Or have you heard of other who have?

Yes I have.

Fusion told me and many other staff to "side with the audience." Which they clarified as young people being liberal or left leaning so that's the angle we take regardless of the facts. It was not a fun time.

Most companies don't force journalists to be biased they just hire biased journalists in the first place.

Thank you for the response! Following up on the question, who do you feel is the most reputable agency/journalist to consistently publish current events?

What reasons do companies report to the masses or hire biased journalist? Is it strictly a business decision to drive traffic or is it politically motivated?

Money and Politics, but usually money.

An article about violent trump supporters will get waaay more shares than a balanced piece about violence on both sides.

EDIT: i suck at speling

No problem, you're a writer not a copyeditor.

Ha no Im not even a writer. I produce documentary and breaking news

Fucking hell. Thank you for your honesty, man. VICE gets more shit from their audience than any other news outlet I can think of. I understand there's a bottom line to think about, but a lot of us started following VICE because you guys didn't appear to be focussed on that bottom line.

well Im not there anymore.

But VICE has a different business strategy than most media outlets that allows them to be less biased. Nobody is perfect though

I first started following Vice because I felt that it was mostly unbiased but was also tailored to the interest of the younger generation that I'm a a part of. It was very refreshing. I don't follow anymore as I've felt that they're catering mostly to the liberal leaning crowd. Maybe they sold out maybe they didn't idk. Thank you though for what you've done.

I dont think its as bad as everyone says.

Honestly I think VICE News on HBO does such a good job that its kind of boring!

Like you say, nobody's perfect and at the end of the day everyone's gotta make a dollar.

VICE makes great documentaries when it comes to the Syria/Iraq war though. Could I ask if you had any part in that?

I havent done anything in Syria or Iraq. Though I did field produce a piece on North Korea which was fun.

What was the weirdest/most interesting thing about N Korea that you saw or learned?

I didnt actually go to NK it was actually all shot by the Kiwi's. I went to Wellington, NZ to meet with them and conducted the interview which was used for voice over.

Sorry if I made it seem like I was in NK, that wasn't my intention.

Why is Vice so shit nowadays? They flood Facebook with bullshit articles.

welcome to news in 2017. Its a race to the bottom.

Well I came here to criticize Vice and saw this and appreciate the honesty. I will now shove my foot in my mouth

Ha, well I dont work there anymore

How do you stop people from participating in the race? how do we stop people from being taken for a ride?

I wish I knew.

Thats what I try to figure out everyday.

I hope that by being straightforward and honest we can collect some accurate data and say "here is what happened, here is how to fix it"

Have you had any experiences with possible government targeted surveillance because of any stories you have reported on?

Ooooh yea.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJyC3to8ODA

EDIT: Ok here goes.. here is the full story.

While covering the NoNato protests in Chicago I got word that the apartment I was staying at in Chicago had been raided. My crew was 4 others. Our driver decided they would head to the apt to see what was up and sure enough the door was open and several officers were outside. He decided to head back to us without confronting police.

After the protests started dying down I called the national lawyers guild for advice. They told me that unless we directly interact with cops they can't help us. Funny thing, about 15 minutes later as we drove we got surrounded by maybe a dozen police vehicles, some all black and tinted windows. They approached us with guns drawn and demanded they see our "fucking hands."

Here's the funny thing.

Because we had been planning on how to deal with the earlier police raid our adrenaline was high. When the cars surrounded us one crew member yells

"ITS HAPPENING!"

They approached the vehicle pulled us out and searched everything. They asked me who I was, where I was from, what was I doing, why was I doing it, and more. They took our credit card numbers, passport information, etc.

After about ten minutes a shorter cops walks over and waves his hand at me. A cop then uncuffs me and the shorter cops says "youre vehicle matched a description" and tells us we are free to go.

This is when we called the news and NLG.

I decided that because of the raid and then the detainment only me and one other person with a large following would be allowed to re enter the apartment and we would livestream everything. Any perishable items would be discarded, vitamins, pills anything edible would be trashed.

As we were leaving another person who had been sharing the apartment with us arrived and asked for a ride. I said it would be fine as long as he followed my rules. This person became slightly agitated and stated they needed to grab something from inside the apartment. I refused, "you enter the apartment thats fine, but you wont be riding with us." So he decides to just get in the car and stay quiet.

As we were leaving, heading to safe place to sleep, I got a text that the police had been talking about us on the radio scanner. This text came from someone we all trusted very much. I couldnt believe it though... seriously? Cops are actually targeting us?

I get another text "THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT YOU ON THE SCANNER STOP GIVING INTEL"

I aimed my livestream down so you couldnt see where we were heading.

We got to a safe place on the southside of Chicago and went to sleep. Everything seemed fine.

The next day as we laughed about it, the one guy who tried to get something from inside laughed and said

"Isn't it weird they[person who owned apartment] wanted me to bring adderall in the car?"

I basically shat a brick at that point... Apparently the person who lived in the apartment texted this guy asking him to grab drugs from inside and bring them with into our car.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" I said

He responded "Yea they asked me to bring adderall into the car"

To which I said "Why the fuck would they want you to take their drugs from their apartment? If we got pulled over and had that bottled we'd all be locked up right now."

We heard a rumor that the person who lived there recently started dating a cop. I don't know if they actually tried pulling some bullshit on us, but I can say that it was possible. If it was true, I credit my planning for keeping me and my crew safe.

Thanks for reading!

The car possibly matched another suspected vehicle

Yes, surely

The full story is significantly crazier.

Long story short, the cops followed up sort of. We have reason to believe they tried planting drugs on us.

You said at some point that they "banged our hard drives against the ground."

Now, couldn't that potentially be evidence tampering?

It's a good thing you were streaming.

I guess they wanted to see if they had anything in them? I have no idea, it was a hell of a ride though. They actually raided our apartment that day too.

You said in the report that credit card numbers were taken? Did have to do with supposed "match of suspects car," or what? I've never heard of that before...

Yea no idea. we think they tried planting drugs on us too but thats the longer version of the story.

I don't know much about you and haven't seen much Vice news, but this seems like a good place to ask, what is happening in the world of journalism? I mean specifically speaking, could you shed some light on what your world is dealing with right now and how your able to maintain this daily life?

Much thanks, and glad you made it out of D.C. okay.

There is no money. Companies are struggling and firing left and right. The companies that are doing well learned that hyperpartisan content shares better than real news.

Then you get "ad rights" purchasing, basically companies buying traffic to claim they get more viewership than they do.

What are your thoughts on journalists using distributed data storage like https://morph.is to publish articles with near zero hosting cost and accepting recurring donations from patreon and cryptocurrencies so readers can fund the journalists so they don't have to rely on ad revenue, "sponsored content" and "fake news" for money?

I mean thats basically what I do... shit should I be promoting my patreon?

What happened to the guy who used go around the world taking drugs with Vice?

Ha no idea. Youre talking about Hamilton Morris? I think he has a show on Viceland

So, would you say that you were treated fairly as a journalist during this rather tumultuous time?

I would.

This was one of the first times an officer talked to people being arrested. This is a situation where a large organized black bloc is destroying cars, windows, spray painting everywhere. The police decided to hold the whole group and sort it out later.

The idea of mass arrest sucks, but when people form a black bloc specifically to avoid the police's ability to target those causing destruction the only thing they can do is wrap up everyone and sort it later.

But the other journalists arrested were not. Why do you think this is?

If they had stayed where I was and acted the way I did I am 90% sure they would have been released immediately.

acted the way I did I

Forgive my ignorance but what do you mean by this?

I stayed away form the chanting group, I moved as far to the right/back as possible.

I waved over the Lt. and said "I just want to let you know I'm press" I informed the police around me everytime I would move to open my bag or swap cameras.

I was trying to be as unobtrusive as possibly, kept calm, kept my mouth shut.

Were members of the press corp doing things differently? Were they chanting and being belligerent to the cops? Seems like they would move from journalists to participants at that point.

the reporters by me kept quiet and we all got released. I saw one of the people in the report screaming at the cops though, Im not surprised he was arrested.

Would you say some of the reporters could have been acting out to help drive their stories? Like if they wanted to drive the idea that Trump is using the police to silence the media, etc?

There are some articles that try to paint this as "trumps america" and thats why I did the AMA.

It was a black block riot, police arrested people. Not every journalist got charged.

So the stories yesterday about ~200-250 arrested for "felony rioting", those were the mass arrests of the "black bloc"?

Of those arrested, roughly how many were actually doing serious felony destruction of property, burning cars and stuff? 10%? 20%

Now are they negotiating plea deals? Being offered deals to testify against others?

Wellll yes a small percentage of the group actually committed violence.

But the thing is, by organizing and wearing all black you are aiding those who destroy things. It is a tactic to hide people committing crimes. Police will just arrest everyone in that case.

Police will just arrest everyone in that case.

But the tactic worked so well for Spartacus.

http://imgur.com/a/srHqY

I get it, but they arrested 230 people for felony rioting.

Aiding and conspiracy yea whatever, nobody's saying they're angels. But of those 230, how many were actually lighting cars on fire? A dozen? A hundred?

A dozen.

But the group dresses in black in an attempt to hide those who commit the violence.

Did you feel in any way specifically target? Or was this simply being in the same place as a kettling happening?

I stood in the wrong place while filming. if I was ten feet to my left I wouldnt have been kettled

whattttt. this is basically just supporting orwellian state policies. i guarantee the salary of the police officers arresting you was more than than he damage the black bloc committed, so bringing in property destruction as a legitimate reason to mass arrest people is pointless when they cost more than the property destroyed.

Think about the other people impacted by the destruction.

The 10$/h starbucks employee being told not to work today, losing hours and much needed money.

Its interesting because using the same logic as the rioters, that minority communities are more likely to work lower paying jobs, they are taking away opportunity from the lowest class in this country.

How do you feel about comedy/satire being a huge part of modern journalism? My theory is that you can't fake a laugh because you need honesty in some form for comedy.

Ehhhh I dont like it. John Oliver has done some good content but also some really bad and misleading content. They try to get away with misleading people by saying "Im not a journalist"

Yea great... thanks for making the world shittier.

People actually believe that Sarah Palin said "I can see Russia from my house"

I get it, comedy is great and we joke about politics. It is what it is.

You seem to consistently maintain unbiased reporting and is a major reason I follow your work so closely. How is it you are able to keep emotion separate when so much other media is heavily one sided?

Also, how do you feel about the media divide in general? Do you have suggestions of similar news outlets that just report facts?

I have friends who are high profile feminists and friends who are high profile Trump supporters. What makes me unbiased (for the most part, no one is perfect) is that I have both sides talking to me calmly because we are friends.

Most people on one side of the isle only hear anger, attacks, and insults. You can't expect people to get along when they dont want to.

As for media, they play sides on purpose, people like having their biases confirmed and companies can monetize that.

This comment right here is going to make me start reading your work and see for myself. I would love for this to be true.

I think if everyone stopped turning their political opponents into monsters we would get more done.

Did you mean to say that your friends are literally on separate islands?

there was supposed to be an 'a' in there. But I'll leave the typo because internet people love typos

If you had to make one prediction about the next 4 years, what would it be?

I will take at least one shower.

No but seriously...

I don't know. I think the Dems in the US will freak out about Trump and protest everything. It is no different when Obama was in and the repubs challenged him.

What do you like most about what you do?

Traveling.

I was on 78 flights last year and flew 130,000 miles

Business Class?

mostly, because I have status with American.

What other news organizations do you respect as unbiased and insightful?

They all have some kind of angle.

I like CNN for the most part but they are far from perfect. I have CNN running 24/7 for updates, not for commentary.

Glen Greenwald and The Intercept do a great job but will almost always give you an anti establishment pov.

The Guardian is one of my favorites.

Did you expect to get out? Have you, or colleagues, been arrested in a situation like that before?

I didn't know if I was going to be released but the only other time I was placed under arrest I was released after about half an hour as well.

Many journalists have been arrested covering these kinds of stories.

I cant speak for why they all get charged, but in 5+ years I have only ever been arrested officially twice but released shortly after with no charges.

Thank you Tim. I assumed it was something of an occupational hazard, but the Twitter reaction has been "look at what's going on in Trump's America"

yea, thats basically why I wanted to do the AMA

Hey Tim, it's refreshing to see a journalist that's frustrated with how polarized the media has become. Would you be open to coming on a podcast episode for a brief interview?

sure, drop me a line

[email protected]

Do you, the people working in media, talk about the filter bubble with each other? Does it concern you, is it something you try to take action against?

I do all the time but most people, even journalists, are in the bubble and are oblivious.

Glad to hear it!

Any particular ways you try to work around it?

my facebook has about 5,000 friends of varying political backgrounds so I see a wide range of content.

Hey Tim, I was there during the protest, I've posted tons of video from the inauguration on my youtube channel SHUTTERSHOT45, From what I saw, there were a lot of "journalist" or at least people with cameras who seemed to be also activist... there didn't seem to be a clear line between the two so I'm wondering if that had something to do with the arrest of the journalist. would you agree or disagree with that assessment? I also have video of "protesters" throwing large pieces of concrete at the police which would merit the police use of flash bangs and pepper spray/cs gas (or whatever it was they were using)... I got hit a couple times myself but to be honest, it wasn't that bad... again, would this be something you agree with or disagree... thanks for the great work that you've been doing... you've become one of my go to sources to check out.

Its really hard to know how is a working journalist and how is an activist filming their friends.

A lot of activists will go to planning meetings and promote the event but try to hide behind journalism.

There is no line anymore, its really hard to figure out the best way to handle the situation.

Thanks, I agree... I have to say, the way the cops handled the situation in DC was exceptionally professional... I even commented to my friends that if I was in charge I wouldn't have been so nice because these people (seem to have) came from out of town and were vandalizing their city. But I think a big part of it is that they don't want the bad pr, I guess a the cost of the destruction is not as bad as a viral video of "police brutality"... idk, ever since I started attending these events my thoughts on how the cops handle them has completely changed.

DC police really do the best job handling protests in my experience. I have a lot of respect for Lt. Washington.

Cops don't usually talk to people and show respect in these situations but he did.

Wait, the lieutenant in DC is named Washington?

ha yes

I am a senior journalism student at a university in the U.S. who is also taking Arabic with hopes of being an independent journalist in the Middle East, among other places. I want to see and report on the best and worst that humanity has to offer. In short, you (almost) have my dream job!

Do you have any advice for me once I graduate? Where should I start?

Buy a plane ticket and just go somewhere interesting and do something journalistic.

Seriously... most people don't even go do journalism.

That's the most succinct response I've ever gotten, and, if I'm honest, the one I've been wanting to hear. I'm always told I need to try to embed for CNN or some other major news outlet, but then I have to do the stories that they want me to do.

I want to do the stories that noone else does. As you've previously stated in this AMA, I also want to be in "the center of the world."

Follow up question: How the hell do I fund it? Will I have to go out of pocket?

yup.

I slept in closets and on floors for the first year I worked at VICE. I saved all my money.

I got started by couch surfing and being broke, homeless, without healthcare.

Do you think news is biased left or right in America?

I think it is biased to the left but the right has been doing a good job of countering on digital

I heard some journalists arrested on inauguration were being brought up on felony charges. Were you charged? Do you know anyone else that was charged?

I know one of the people who got charged. I was not charged. About 6 journalists received felony charges I believe.

The Lt. on scene informed me that I was under arrest and not free to leave, after about 45 minutes pulled me and two NBC reporters out and let us go.

What is the difference between you and those journalists who did get charged? Were you just lucky?

I dont know but I can say that I saw one of them yell at the cops, that certainly didnt help their situation.

I can say that the NBC reporters and I stayed quiet and calm and politely informed the Lt we were press.

Is it frustrating having to argue with colleagues and members of your profession that being dogmatic ideologues is antithetical to journalism itself?

yes.

Sometimes I hate journalists but then I realize its just people doing people stuff.

Hi Mr. Pool, do you think the reason you and your two colleagues weren't charged was down to the size and reach of your respective organisations ? or too put it another way if ye were unknown journalists would things have been different? Oh and thanks for the AMA

I currently don't work for anyone, I just have my press ID I made for my company.

I think it has to do with us removing ourselves from the chanting group and staying to the far side/ telling the Lt. calmly

What's your relationship with Gavin Mcinnes like?

I actually just met him for the first time going to the Deploraball.

He seems eccentric to say the least.

Are you ever going to realize that you can't grow a proper beard?

Oh dude, Im part korean.

My parents told me since I was little about my crippling disability.

Vice is owned by Disney. With Disney as a global conglomerate, do you feel that covering a negative portrayal of trump is in favor of the company you work for? Does this affect your reporting? Edit: do you think this relationship has anything to do with why you were arrested? (For the conspiracy theorists out there)

I haven't worked for VICE in two years. I left before Disney got involved but did work for Fusion which was owned by Disney in the past (they sold their portion)

Companies hire journalists who already have the views they want to promote, so there is no real coercion.

Should I be as worried about the future as I am? I am straight getting sick from the visible decline in intellect, compassion and freedom.

Yes.

Hello Tim.

It's my opinion that the news media should leave the narcisstic Tweets and controversy over crowd sizes to the late night comedians while genuine journalists should cover things like the executive orders to stop enforcing Obamacare and the Keystone Pipeline.

What are your thoughts on this?

Also, do you think that (at least some of) the controversial things Trump has said/done recently have been a smokescreen for his real actions (e.g. executive orders) or are they really the childish games they appear to be?

Yea, too many news outlets are using opinion to fill the 24 hour news gap void. It results in everything being an op-ed or analyses piece. The facts get buried.

Trump is a master of Media, he knows exactly what he's doing and how to hide certain actions from the press. Obama did the same thing. Its not new.

Based on what you witnessed, did any of the folks you were jailed with belong there?

Well I wasn't jailed. I was placed under arrest for 45 minutes to an hour.

That being said the good majority of the group I was held with were active participants in the black bloc. I can't say who deserves what, but I can say that this group was causing lots of destruction around the area.

Two questions, if you don't mind.

1. From what I understand, Obama (despite getting along with the press fairly well) was not always the best president for journalism. Are you worried Trump's combativeness to the press will be even worse, and possibly restrict you from doing your job?

2. I write for local newspapers, but I want to be a national freelancer, kind of like what you do. How do I go from writing for state newspapers to making the national scene?

Thanks for doing this!

I dont think Trump is as bad as everyone makes him out to be. The "skype seats" announcement for the press corp is actually a great idea.

Seems like they are just taking shots at the big dogs. But we will see, Its not like I trust them either.

EDIT: Oop, forgot second question.

My recommendation is to travel to the biggest stories and report on them, eventually you meet people and build the right network.

Tim during the protest where you ever personally targeted by either protester or officers?

neither.

In the past I have been targeted by police in one extreme instance in Chicago. I have been physically attacked by protesters about four or five times.

Hey, Tim. Was your cell phone confiscated during the mass arrest? Do you know journalists that were arrested that DID lose their phone? I find that development troublesome. Thanks for doing the AMA.

My phone wasn't taken.

I know at least some of the journalists that got charged did lose their phones.

Have you seen the Documentary Now! spoof of VICE documentaries? What did you think about it?

It was funny.

There was another one done by the onion. Both great.

You said you've been to numerous protests in the past. How commonplace is violence and vandalism at the protests you go to?

Does the media over report it for ratings, or is it more common than some people like to believe?

How do the peaceful protestors react to the violent ones?

I tend to only cover conflict and crisis stories so usually there is violence when I am there. I didnt post anything from the Women's March because I dont actually cover protest specifically.

Peaceful protesters usually object to the violence however there are some "allies" who believe in "diversity of tactics"

Do you agree that the big media companies contributed extremely to trump's success by giving him more airtime than others?

Yes, definitely.

Trump knew what he was doing in my opinion. He played on controversy to get airtime at no cost and it worked.

It doesnt matter if you love or hate him because when he is all you can talk about he is the top contender.

VICE did an awesome job on exposing the closed-to-outsiders world of North Korea.

Do you think VICE will ever get around to the shady underbelly of life behind Lichtenstein's Iron Curtain?

No idea.

But I can say; check this piece I produced for VICE about north korea. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNVCdL908ko

How do people with no journalistic experience break into the field?

Is really just as easy as finding a story and hitting rec?

Just go do journalism. Go somewhere important and film, tweet, youtube, facebook. Find important stories and share them. The rest follows.

And as for school, Im a high school drop out

EDIT: Better answer.

You said earlier that companies hire biased journalists in the first place, but how true really is that? I am a journalism student trying to get in the field of Journalism, do I need to start writing with a heavy bias to get noticed?

Depends on where you want to work.

Most news outlets, even the big names, are anti Trump. Partisan content shares better and makes more money.

Is there one thing you know, that you wish you could say to every single American right now?

Most news you hear is sensationalized. Life is much more chill and boring than media makes it seem.

What do you think are the biggest challenges journalists, like yourself, will face with the Trump administration's press attitude towards the press?

Trump is the kind of person who knows he is right all the time. When the press challenges him, as they are supposed to, he is confused and angry.

Seems like he is surrounded by yes men all the time.

I think the press had it easy in the past and now its time to get adversarial and do some heavy lifting. I think we will be fine.

When viewing an article, how should i properly check that the sources mentioned are correct, so as to not be persuaded by a news article that may or may not be biased/false reporting/ leaving out facts/ etc?

I appreciate all the work you do. Keep it up :D

Its damn near impossible. Just google search the story and read a couple different articles on the same subject.

Why were you not arrested, but other reporters were?

I can't speak for the other reporters but what I can say:

I made my way to two NBC reporters and we stayed to the far right. We did not yell or scream. We all calmly and politely informed the Lt. on scene we were press then kept our mouths shut.

Lt. had informed us several times we were under arrest and not free to leave but after 45 minutes to an hour returned, asked for our credentials, then told us to leave.

Do you have plans to go back to NDPL considering it will probably be some tension there soon? I have a close friend up there now if you need to get in touch with anyone.

How do you decide what to cover?

I just like to be in the "center of the world."

Places where the most important events are happening because I want to witness history and better understand the world.

I might go back to DAPL but the people there are very very very anti-press

What do you think about CNN and other news sources being biased, and how can we tell immediately news stories which have bias?

Unfortunately you cant.

Your best bet is to read a story from three different outlets.

Hi Tim, thanks for doing the AMA. What's your drone 360/VR experiment about?

I have to attach a 360 camera to a drone. Pretty simple actually.

I have three 360 cameras and I think the Lyfie Eye 360 will work the best but I have to duct tape a smart phone to my drone.

Been following you since Ferguson. What's a good resource for finding citizen journalists?

Honestly, there isnt one.

Periscope's map feature is great if youre looking for specific breaking news

Why has VICE turned into a white man-hating shitrag in the last few years?

I cant speak for VICE but have you read any new media site? Its all the same hard left politics.

Hey, thanks for answering my question. And in all fairness, the right-wing counterparts to VICE, Vox, Buzzfeed, Huffington Post, etc. aren't much better in regards to actual journalism content. I'm more concerned with the growing trend of identity politics and the rise of the alt-right and ctrl-left as they begin to dominate political discourse. I guess what I really want to ask is if you saw VICE's transition from the kind of edgy underground new media site it started out as and moved more and more into the hard-left camp over time. If so, how did that process come about? Was it mostly a management decision to push the new narrative or did it happen organically?

I dont think so.

I think if it did move left its because people in general did. Its a downward spiral that everyone is trapped in.

Media reports hyper partisan nonsense to make money resulting in people becoming more and more partisan and then desiring even MORE extreme content.

Were you scared at all when you were told you were under arrest? Do you think that we are going to be seeing more of these kind of uncharged arrests in the future?

Its common in riot situations. The police just grab everyone in an attempt to stop the destruction.

I wasn't scared, I was laughing about it. Spending 24+ hours in a DC jail is not the worst thing in the world, especially not with the countries I've been to.

Hope im not too late (i work nights) Have you had any amazing reports that got squashed by the higher ups to protect investments or investors? If so can you name any parties?

I havent, though I have had higher ups at Fusion tell me to tow the line basically.

As much as Fusion wanted a "perspective" they didn't inhibit any of my work. Though they certainly didnt help promote it either.

What is the most unbiased news source(s) in your opinion?

They all have bias but Reuters and AP tend to be good sources. For articles and more in depth content I like the Guardian.

When you were there, what did they start saying to you BEFORE they arrested you? I want to know the whole story. That's horrible!

No warnings. They just pepper sprayed and gave chase.

I actually crashed into a bike cop while running and he whipped out his baton on me, I was like "oh fuck!" and he told me to move and I ran as fast as I could... ha.

In your opinion, are police becoming more aggressive towards journalists with the inauguration of Donald Trump?

No.

Actually the police in DC were surprisingly professional. Thats why Im frustrated by this narrative that "Trumps America" is targeting the press.

Do you have any conservative opinions? I find it hard to take people seriously who are all or nothing. How can you know what you don't believe if you've never really delved into what a particular thing means? Gotta wear the suit if you want to understand the wolf.

Im a little left on some issues and a little right on some issues.

Seems someone has yet to ask this and it seems obvious, but, WHY were you arrested. Were you doing anything to provoke that response?

Also, what do you think of other political speakers/media icons? Specifically, Alex Jones, James O'Keefe, Ben Shapiro, Milo Yiannopoulos, etc.

Edit: Sorry if that comes across a little aggressive - That is not my intention, I'm just curious.

The group was mass arrested. Police surrounded anyone in the area including lawyers, medics, and journalists.

We were all in the vicinity of the black bloc rioting, the police response isn't to try and make single arrests but to just grab everyone and sort it out later.

Do you think the country will continue to see militant leftist protests for the whole Trump term if he pursues policies he campaigned on? Or will this be flash in the pan and end when more moderate protesters lose interest? Are we entering into a new period of public protest nationwide.

I think protests will escalate for bit. Depends on what Trump does but it seems a lot of people just hate him arbitrarily.

Im not saying there is no reason to hate him just that the average person I talk to about this doesn't know a whole lot.

How did you feel the film about the film that came out last year about your brother, Dead? Is he like that offscreen too?

Which brother? I have two.

Tim, what role will independent journalists play in our new political climate that is set on presenting their own "alternative facts?" With mainstream reporters being badgered, limited in access, or possibly relenting to the demands of a childish administration, can independent journalists fill in the gaps or will they struggle with access to begin with?

The good news is that Trump attack on the big players has resulted in smaller news outlets rising up and getting access. The "skype seats" are particularly interesting.

Independent Journalists are rare, most just go freelance and work for whatever company is paying at the time.

That being said we have a great opportunity as independent journalists to ask the hard questions without fear of losing sponsors.

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Im not a good person to ask for advice on protesting. Its a big political game and everyone is being used by someone. I generally stay away from endorsing protests or political campaigns.

What is your favorite topic to cover?

Also, is there yet any evidence to support the theory that President Trump is, in fact, a Cheeto?

Scientists are working hard right now to isolate the cheeto gene in Trump.

I hate politics but I love covering issues that will change the world. Catch 22 sometimes

In yesterday's Presidential press briefing, a reporter was asking about the SHIELD laws but Sean did not respond in the affirmative. Do you think Trump's administration will do anything for reporters to protect them from wrongful arrests?

I was excited to hear Pence supported a national shield law. Hopefully he carries that same zeal into the VP.

Who knows though, things change especially when you move into a high powered position.

So just from a general sense, how do you feel the people in the crowd felt about the new president? ;)

That group hates everyone in politics. It was specifically anti trump but it definitely motivated them.

Just curious Tim, do you still skate? Remember Anti Gravity?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eIGLtRYGpE

Why are we not talking about all the people wrongfully arrested? The black block hit the star bucks at 10:30am. The group of people arrested had been peacefully protesting for 3 hours a after the damage was done. They were trapped and then charged with felony rioting they clearly do not do

No this group was kettled minutes after the windows got smashed out. Later in the day large groups started fires and most were left alone.

How would you feel about removing all creative writing classes and fictional literature from journalism studies to curb fake news?

Fake news is politically and monetarily motivated. Doesn't matter if someone goes to school. Cheaters gunna cheat.

When did your magazine/brand go to shit? Half of the articles are impossible to read bc they lack any journalistic integrity. How do you feel about that?

Well, I quit VICE about two years ago...

Do you feel at least partially responsible for the rise of neo-fascism in this country? Considering that several of the founding members of VICE News now identify as Alt-Right(neo-nazi)?

Which founding members of VICE News?

Gavin McInnes for one.

He is a founder of VICE as a whole. Vice News is just a sub channel of VICE.

Im pretty sure he is the only one who is considered alt-right and he left VICE in 2007

Are you investigating the stories of your colleagues being charged with felonies?

I'm not. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

You'll wait until they charge you?

I wasn't charged nor was I booked or jailed.

Damn man, what's it like to live with your head so far up your ass?

Well I never forget what I had for breakfast and it's easy to sleep because I can't hear or see anything.

Now that you and half your organization have outed themselves as leftwing political operatives, for example Harry Cheadle's latest anti-Trump masterpiece, how can we take Vice News seriously in the future when people can no longer tell the difference between you and MSNBCCNN?

I havent worked for VICE in 2 years