So after a busy media day covering Ben Norman's Activists Academy and the School of Rock's acoustic night, all of which were good fun and will have pictures available shortly, i was on my walk home.

 The whole of Hampshire Terrace was closed off by police, with cones, tape and everything everywhere. I was intrigued.

 Found a police officer leaning over the front of a collision investigation unit and I asked if he could give me a clue what was going on, he nodded towards a car with a large dent in the side, I then enquired about the possibility of getting a few pictures, I was just thinking a few stock images of police tape, vehicles stuff like that. 

The office asked me very politely if I would mind doing it from a particular side of the road as they had a perimeter and didn't want me getting in their way. I agreed to the very fair request and trotted off. At this point i spotted a Police motorcycle laying underneath the dent in the side of the car, this now became a very tense situation. Accidents are one thing, accidents involving the police are typically a little emotional for the staff on scene. 

I casually get my kit out of my bag during which time another officer politely asks me who i am taking pictures for. I whip out my collection of press cards and explain i'm a student and a freelance photographer, the officer passes me back my cards commenting on how grumpy i look in my photo. 

I take my first photo, with my flash gun and all hell breaks loose. A chap in the pub starts hollering at me something about seeing my press card, and "what do you think your doing" a police sergeant arrives claiming that its incredibly rude to start taking pictures without his permission. I explain to the Sgt that i had already spoken to two of his colleagues.  He assures me that it is my responsibility to seek his approval. 

I am then told that if I don't do as I'm told he will confiscate my camera, At this point I get a little confused, I'm on public property, taking photos of something on public property. There is as far as I'm aware no reason why anything I'm doing is wrong, unless somehow i am in breach of the 2005 prevention of terrosim bill which I really can't see anyone justifying that. 

 I point this out to the helpful Sgt who sulks away,

Now the guy from the pub reappears and now refers to me as "pap scum", "a parasite on society" and "the reason princess Diana died"

 All in all i think this shows an incredible level of hatred and misunderstanding to the media world. Not everyone involved in media is sensationalist, money grabbing whore, some of us actually believe in fair journalism. In holding ourselves to the highest levels of accountability, using the NUJ code of conduct not as target but as a bench mark to what I do, the press complaints commission code of practice is not something to find ways around, but to be strictly and vehemently abided by.

I'm not a journalist to make money, become famous and expose peoples private life, that's the job of gossip merchants. I'm here to inform, stimulate debate, to help people make up there own minds  to provide people with information and to act as a way of people expressing themselves.