Journalists targeted in London riots

With riots sweeping through London, there's growing concern about the safety of journalists who are covering the unrest. News of reporters and photographers getting caught up in the turmoil has begun pouring in.

"We are very concerned that the social unrest has spread to aggression against journalists," Joel Simon, executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, said in a statement issued Tuesday afternoon. "News organizations must take precautions, but we hope demonstrators recognize that it is in the public interest for journalists, as independent observers, to witness and report the facts."

Photojournalists in particular have reportedly found themselves in the cross-hairs. Some have been beaten while others have had their equipment destroyed, according to The Guardian.

"I had my camera down by my side and took some shots on my phone and sent a few tweets and then out of nowhere I got punched in my face, my glasses were knocked off and my camera was nicked," one of them told the U.K. broadsheet.

Videos of aggression against journalists likewise have surfaced online. In the clip below, for instance, bottles were hurled at CNN correspondent Dan Rivers as he filed a report from South London.