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Bloggers Now Eligible For Press Passes In NYC
RobotRunAmok writes "The New York City Police Department announced Tuesday that bloggers and others who publish on the Web will now be eligible for press credentials. The move comes as a result of a lawsuit filed in 2008 by three Web journalists who were denied press passes. In New York, journalists with press passes are typically allowed to cross police barricades at public events. 'Events that will qualify include city-sponsored activity — like a press conference or parade — as well as emergencies where the city has set up do-not-cross lines. The proposal also allows inexperienced journalists to obtain single-use press passes. Longtime civil rights lawyer Norman Siegel, who represented the journalists who sued, says the city will now decide who a journalist is by looking at the type of work they do, and not the organization they write for.'"
... has made the press pass obsolete.
This is starting to become the new form of journalism. The "big guys" like TV and radio owners are starting to lay off their full time staff, and replacing them with people who can report, record, and edit their own pieces who get paid by the number of reports they generate that make air.
To the average news viewer, this is almost transparent... so the standard shouldn't be "I work for CNN," but "CNN uses my iReports regularly."
I post opinions, rumors, announcements, and other "media-like" information right here on this very site in the form of comments. Unfortunately, because I don't submit stories, enter journals, or edit summaries (I don't think the /. editors do either) I am not considered a journalist.
Despite the time and effort I put into making sure my posts are factual, interesting, engaging, inciteful, and sometimes funny, my work (and I don't hesitate to call it work) here as a active contributor to the discussions surrounding each story is like dust in the wind, dude.
Yeah... I think the press pass should be limited to people who:
1. Have covered such events in the past.
2. Have a measurable audience somehow... be it web, print, TV, radio, etc.
3. Haven't caused problems at previous events.
1. Have covered such events in the past.
2. Have a measurable audience somehow... be it web, print, TV, radio, etc.
Ah, the age old question..
How can I get a job without experience?
And how can I get experience without a job?
Let's add an apprenticeship rule... let people who have a press pass bring in an intern/trainee so they can learn the job. Either that, or have people write about police events without the pass, and then one day when they walk up to the line hand them their pass.
An interesting detail is that 99% of the "bloggers" on the web only post volatile, vain bollox, and that cannot count as journalism, which I believe is a requirement for a press pass.
1. So, in order to cover such an event, you must have a Press Pass, and in order to get a Press Pass, you must have covered such an event.
2. In order to have an audience, you must get the news. In order to get the news, you've got to have an audience.
3. In order to get a Press Pass, you have to have covered such an event without one. Which pretty much means going past police barricades or some similar illegal activity. So, pretty much be definition, you'll have misbehaved at a previous event.
In summary, your requirements reduce to:
1. No-one will be issued Press Passes.
"I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
Ah so lets limit it to an elite and their friends.
Not friends with the right person?
Not born into the right family?
Sucks to be you!
actually it's
"No-one will be issued Press Passes except the people like me who have already been issued press passes"
1. So, in order to cover such an event, you must have a Press Pass, and in order to get a Press Pass, you must have covered such an event.
2. In order to have an audience, you must get the news. In order to get the news, you've got to have an audience.
3. In order to get a Press Pass, you have to have covered such an event without one. Which pretty much means going past police barricades or some similar illegal activity. So, pretty much be definition, you'll have misbehaved at a previous event.
In summary, your requirements reduce to:
1. No-one will be issued Press Passes.
if you RTFA before issuing your screed, it states that inexperienced bloggers or other journalists can apply for a 1 day pass to cover events.
I disagree with you completely.
It is impossible to guarantee that a journalist is going to report an event with a bias in your favor. You can't expect it now from traditional journalists- why would you expect it from bloggers.
It is not the responsibility of the police or event organizers or the people who issue press passes to evaluate potential biases in the journalists.
It IS the responsibility of the readers of those journalists to identify their biases and accept or reject their reports accordingly- just like it always has been with reporting.
I'm not sure why you think that a person should be barred from the press because of their beliefs or biases.
Factual reporting can be done by anyone, even if they are a huge troll.
Fact: your brother just got his retainer.
Think about the effects of mis-information spread at real-time during an emergency, with the masses just blindly following? If it caused real damage, would it be considered e-terrorism? THAT was my point in determining just who someone is representing and why they are there.
Sorry, but when I read things like this, I tend to fast-forward 3 years and 5 "cyber-attacks" from now, when the Government steps in with a "new-and-improved" E-Patriot Act...
What's been missing from the coverage the David Patterson press conferences has been the shrewd, insightful experience and reportage from the OMG ponies! perspective. The mainstream media has been suppressing that important voice since, like, forever. Mean people suck! Also, that young guy Aaron on America Idol - he would so make a great sparkly vampire someday.
Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
They editorialize.
Since when did "news" mean copying and pasting a press release? "Editorializing" is nothing more than asking questions and trying to answer them.
If newspapers actually did this then there'd be no reason to go to blogs.
If you have something that you dont want anyone to know, maybe you shouldnt be doing it in the first place -Eric Schmidt
On one hand this is a great victory for free speech/freedom of the press. On the other hand, if they start handing out press passes to anyone then there is a real threat for terrorists to easily get their hands on press passes. I just hope they do some kind of background check first. 'Hi I'm from Al Qaeda news and would like to bring some camera equipment backstage for the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade. Don't mind the canisters marked anthrax, it's the new Kodak anthrax film. '
Yeah, but after a while, you gain enough experience to be on your own. It also ensures that you have someone to mentor you about the obligations and rights of journalists in the real world (not just on paper).
Yes, it's sarcasm. Deal with it!
3. Haven't caused problems at previous events.
Actually just 3 might be a reasonable rule.
Anything can be found funny, from a certain point of view.
as a photographer who makes part of my income with press/arts photography, im not looking forward to this. It just means more morons crowding events and creating problems for the rest of us. Yeah, im real happy you write/shoot for some blog with 5 people who read it.
I too wish there was less competition... er uh... morons crowding events in my field of biological research. Yes, I'm really happy about having to be competitive. It would be so much easier if they would start issuing "scientist licenses" which were very difficult to get so I would have less competition and more time to procrastinate without worrying someone else will scoop me. Ooh, and with less competition, I bet demand would be higher for me and I'd get more money.
Man, this really does suck for you AC. Now you'll have to actually, you know, be competitive at your job. I feel so bad for you.
You say it like that scenario is a bad thing.
I'll take a world with a million script kiddies and 10,000 top class coders over a world with no script kiddies and only 1000 top class coders.
I think you may be reminiscing about the good old days when journalism was actually a respectable profession there, pops. Journalism has devolved into corporate press releases and edutainment over the last quarter century. But that's actually beside the point.
This is about freedom of expression. Journalists should not be a special class of people who receive special privileges. Journalism isn't engineering or programming, it is fairly simple. There is no reason to limit journalism to professionals, because unprofessional journalists can't really cause any more harm to society than professionals, unlike most other professions, and unlike all regulated professions. Unlike a VB program, most everyone can read an article and decide for themselves whether it is full of holes or trash.
So, press passes should be available to anyone who wants them. If you screw up, you get your pass taken away. It's that simple. No need for false elitism. Seriously, I challenge anyone to a.) list the privileges having a press pass gives you, and b.) explain why those privileges are so dangerous they should be limited to professional journalists, and for extra credit, c.) show why journalists themselves deserve those privileges and how they won't be a danger in the hands of professionals.
I am of the opinion that things should only be limited or regulated for good cause. There are lots of good causes to limit or regulate a good many things, but not journalism.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
So, you're so incapable of determining the veracity of what you're reading that you demand government get involved to restrict who can have access to news?
I've never understood the concept of a "press pass" in the first place.
Learn about Photography Basics.
One of the sports blogs that I regularly read, which will remain unmentioned for fear of the Slashdot effect, actually convinced the NFL to give him a press pass to the NFL Scouting Combine. Since I started reading his blog in '08, the writer has ingratiated himself with the local* beat guys, get an article published in the New York Times, and built a rapport with members of the national sports media and NFL Players. When it counts, he puts in just as much work as the beat writers and his analysis is often a step ahead of theirs, even with less access. I have absolutely no problem with giving him a press pass.
Nate Silver, from fivethirtyeight.com, also provides excellent political commentary. His primary work is with polls, and we was able to correctly predict 49 of the 50 states in the 2008 presidential election. He has also contributed to ESPN, Slate, Sports Illustrated, The New York Times, and the New York Sun. Again, I hardly have an issue with him receiving a press pass.
As stated in the article, there are requirements in place for attaining a press pass. I'm sure this will be a work in progress, but opening up the news reporting mechanism in this country can hardly be a bad thing.
*He lives in New York, but covers the Green Bay(Wisconsin) Packers. He gets regular commentary from writers in Green Bay and Milwaukee, the two largest markets that cover the team.
But then I realized the cable was blue, so I only gave it one star. I hate blue.
Rule three sounds like it is covered by the new policy. The policy is not, 'anyone can get a press pass.' It is, 'Anyone can apply for a press pass, and if it looks anything like they have been practicing journalism, even on a blog no one reads, they will get it.' Someone with a history of disruption likely would not receive a pass in the first place, and someone who ceases to act like a journalist could have it revoked.
The main change is that you don't have to be paid, or working for a big news outlet, to get a press pass. You just have to act like a journalist.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
Yea, the elite...I work with journalists every day and the word "elite" doesn't apply to any of them except the moronic "folksy" guy, and then only in his own mind.
I don't think there is anything wrong with allowing an established journalist to say, "Don't worry about this guy, he's with me." 90% of the ones I know would say that for a pint of beer, and it's not like they're hard to find (hint: pick up the dead tree product, and look at the names at the top of all the printy words).
It's a hell of a lot better than just throwing every event open to every schmuck with a blogspot account, or on the other hand, requiring a government-sponsored vetting process to figure out if you're relevant enough to merit a press pass.
ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.
You don't have a scientist license from an accredited science license producing institution? How did you get a job in the field without a degree?
While I agree with your sentiment, you used a bad example as 'scientist' is actually a field with significant barriers to entry.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
They aren't hiring anyone. They're just saying that you won't automatically be turned away because you don't represent a big media outlet.
These events are standing room only. Not everyone is going to get in regardless, and the current rules about journalists are just a rule of necessity to keep the attendance under control.
ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.
There are a number of "Press" parking spots in NYC. A large number of people get the passes for free parking and get maps detailing the locations of these spots. You are not allowed to park in these spots without either the press license plate or a placard in your window, if you do have either of those, free parking.
I see the degree, raise you a peer-review process, and disagree with the GP. I think that licensing (or some other vetting) is a very good thing when you need an assurance of performance - especially if there is a risk that poor performers will crowd out good ones. Licensed engineers, licensed contractors, and licensed truck drivers are all very good things, in my mind. (Despite the fact that they could be underbid by unlicensed alternatives.)
Right, licensed doctors, licensed lawyers, licensed therapists: these are good things because unqualified people in these fields can cause serious harm. Unqualified journalists aren't going to hurt anyone, except maybe English teachers.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
No, traditional media isn't perfect and bias free, but regardless of all the political bullshit out there, I still have far more faith that I'm going to be able to filter out the bullshit from traditional media far easier than figuring out the agenda of some random blogger who's never been seen by more than 5 people before in is life.
Nice strawman argument you created for yourself there.
There are a lot of sites that were started by "some random blogger who's never been seen by more than 5 people before in is life" (like Fark, Slashdot, RedState, Daily Kos) and are now a big deal in both the online world and the offline one.
[Fuck Beta]
o0t!
Why should you get special treatment?
If you can't survive the competition, especially from people who only have 5 readers then your not very good and should probably find something else to do.
An SQL query goes to a bar, walks up to a table and asks, "Mind if I join you?"
How do you prove how many readers you actually have?
An SQL query goes to a bar, walks up to a table and asks, "Mind if I join you?"
If unqualified journalists aren't going to hurt anyone, why did Brazil have a law that said you needed years of university before you could become part of the press.
Military dictatorship like to know the types of people who get to inform the people everyday.
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
Journalists write the most atrocious crap of all. Bloggers are often far more professional.
Why, because the Journalist is trying to sell a storey so they will write about things with zero qualifications or experience.
The blogger on the other hand is writing about their area of passion and has nothing to sell, Often the blogger will have experience and expertise in what they are doing, the same is not true for journalists.
An SQL query goes to a bar, walks up to a table and asks, "Mind if I join you?"
Yes, and for every one of those you can name, there are at least 100k that aren't worth the hard drive space they occupy or the air their authors breath.
There are exceptions to every rule, but in this case the exceptions don't need the law to be changed, and more importantly do not make up for the problems that are going to be caused when every random blogger goes and screws around where he shouldnt' be.
Lets take it further. Bloggers should get press passes at sporting events too. Guess what, the only people at sporting events will become bloggers. Doesn't matter if one or two of those people MIGHT be good reporters, its ruined by the spam from all the other idiots who aren't worth the time to read or aren't even there to be journalists, their just taking advantage of 'press pass'.
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I have mixed feelings about this. I was a freelance business writer during the end of the DotCom boom. I actually did have some published pieces, and because of that, I didn't have too hard a problem getting into MOST industry events (where I was professional and actually working).
However, those same tech events were even then littered with "faux press" already--guys who showed up with huge empty duffel bags for the sole purpose of hoarding all of the free crap that they could grab, like T-shirts, software samples, etc. It made it almost impossible to get a legit review copy of anything, be it a book or a software title, if you got there past the first open hour, because the grabbers had already been through.
There was a whole sub-tribe of folks who I ran into for years who did nothing at trade shows and industry events other than get drunk, eat as much food as possible in the press room, and take as much free crap as they could carry.
ON THE OTHER HAND.....
I know lots of very good and legit bloggers and photgraphers who were shut out of events precisely due to lack of previous "paper" published work or byline in-hand. It seemed very arbitrary.
The grabbers always made it in, but a lot of honest folks trying to make a start for themselves got shut out.
I don't know what the legality of a two-tier press pass system would be, but it would be nice if there was some kind of intermediate "apprentice" pass available for just-starters. If they get a positive follow-up from an event organizer X number of times, they could "graduate" to a full pass. If they're not grabbers or bullshit artists, then they wouldn't mind giving a real URL and a real name for contact purposes.
Just a thought and my 2c.
For existing press people to start teaching training classes on how to approach the scene, safety, etc
"We need to get over this notion, that, for Apple to win... Microsoft must lose." - Steve Jobs, 1997
Traditional print hasn't figured out how to stay competitive in the new world and is reducing quality of reporting by reducing to a skeleton staff. Might as well remove the barriers and allow the alternative media equal footing. Sure there are a lot of schmucks with blogs, but there are also a lot of knowledgeable and passionate folks out there who write blogs. Sure the wrinkles still need to be worked out, as in, what, if any, should the qualifications be for bloggers. Should it be based on readership? Past output? Who makes that decision? This stuff can be ironed out over time as problems present themselves. But you have to start somewhere.
That is like saying that because so many politicians have made speeches, 'I have a Dream' and 'The Gettysburg Address' are ruined by that. All Persons have Free Speech, their quality has nothing to do with the crap others say. This is simply an extension of it.
Now that I've been endowed with the entirely necessary indiscriminate press pass for my work in blogging old cartoons; I suddenly feel it's my civic duty to attend every single event I can with my new press credentials before someone eventually takes them away
It IS the responsibility of the readers of those journalists to identify their biases and accept or reject their reports accordingly- just like it always has been with reporting.
How about...you know, trying to keep the bias out altogether and just reporting the bloody facts so I can make up my own mind? Novel idea, I know...
People replying to my sig annoy me. That's why I change it all the time.
If the only qualification for being a journalist is "having an email address", where do we get accountability? Real journalists take classes on ethics and have an employer who can fire them. It's easier to blackball a journalist out of the field than it is to prevent a blogger from posting.
i dislike the idea if bloggers as journalists more than i dislike people writing in a professional capacity and calling it blogging.
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Heaven forbid you actually have to go out there and make friends or network.