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Bloggers Now Eligible For Press Passes In NYC

Posted by Soulskill on from the what-hath-god-wrought dept.

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.'"

7 of 95 comments (clear)

  1. Which by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ... has made the press pass obsolete.

  2. Start with the journalists who were laid off... by LostCluster · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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."

    1. Re:Start with the journalists who were laid off... by Tobor+the+Eighth+Man · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I think it's great in theory, but in practice I'm always worried that this is another way for corporations to profit off the work of little guys while paying them less and giving them fewer benefits, backing, and security. Freelancing (and that's what this is) is like contracting, with all the ups and downsides that go along with it, except it's a damn sight harder for a freelancer to make a living comparable to a full-time employee than it is for a contractor to do the same.

  3. I write for Slashdot by BadAnalogyGuy · · Score: 5, Interesting

    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.

    1. Re:I write for Slashdot by joeslugg · · Score: 5, Funny

      +1 Inciteful

  4. Re:great, thanks a lot by BadAnalogyGuy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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?

  5. Re:great, thanks a lot by HungryHobo · · Score: 4, Informative

    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!