{"id":222554,"date":"2021-04-08T23:52:43","date_gmt":"2021-04-08T20:52:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/move-to-give-mayors-office-press-pass-power-stirs-controversy\/"},"modified":"2021-04-08T23:52:43","modified_gmt":"2021-04-08T20:52:43","slug":"move-to-give-mayors-office-press-pass-power-stirs-controversy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/move-to-give-mayors-office-press-pass-power-stirs-controversy\/","title":{"rendered":"#Move to give mayor’s office press pass power stirs controversy"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Move to give mayor’s office press pass power stirs controversy<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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A move to give the Mayor\u2019s office responsibility for press passes that have long been handled by the New York Police Department is generating controversy from all sides. <\/p>\n

The Mayor\u2019s Office of Media<\/a> and Entertainment is on track to take over the issuance, suspension and revocation of press credentials to working journalists, including photographers, thanks to a new City Council bill passed in March. <\/p>\n

Advocates of the move cite the NYPD\u2019s handling of police protests last summer, including clashes with journalists, while critics fear it gives notoriously thin-skinned mayors too much control over how they are covered.<\/p>\n

Press trade groups, meanwhile, say the new bill caught them by surprise at a time when they were working to resolve thorny issues about the NYPD\u2019s handling of the the protests directly with that agency. <\/p>\n

And now they are concerned that a press pass from a city agency responsible for coordinating citywide film and television production and nightlife won\u2019t be held in the same esteem when it comes to covering emergencies as one issued by the NYPD. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re a little skeptical of the change,\u201d said Colin DeVries, president of the Deadline Club, a local chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. A big question, DeVries said, is \u201cwill the MOME-issued badges create access issues,\u201d including with the NYPD, which is usually in charge of the kinds of breaking news<\/a> events that require press credentials to get in.<\/p>\n

A Working Press pass enables credentialed reporters and photographers to cross police and fire lines during protests and emergency situations, but is also accepted as press ID at many city-sponsored events from parades to City Hall press conferences. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a concern whether a badge from MOME is going to be recognized and have the same authority as an NYPD issued badge,\u201d he said, noting that most other big cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, and Boston still have police departments issuing their cities\u2019 press passes.<\/p>\n

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\"Members
Members of the press covering an event in Midtown Manhattan in July 2020.<\/figcaption>
Pacific Press\/LightRocket via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

In addition to issuing permits to TV shows and movie studios filming on city streets, MOME also runs the city\u2019s various film festivals and also acts as a central contact for the city\u2019s nightlife industry. <\/p>\n

The bill to transfer control of press passes to MOME passed the city council at the end of March and currently awaits Mayor de Blasio\u2019s signature. It will become operational 270 days after he signs it, according to city councilman Keith Powers, the main sponsor of the bill.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt started forming as an issue last summer at the height of the protests,\u201d Powers explained in an interview. The NYPD, going back the days when Ray Kelly was commissioner, has been looking to shed the responsibility. <\/p>\n

\u201cI realized that the NYPD really doesn\u2019t want to do this, they should be focused on law enforcement issues,\u201d Powers said. <\/p>\n

NYC public advocate Jumaane Williams has endorsed Powers\u2019 bill, citing the police\u2019s handling of the press last summer at the height of protests tied to George Floyd\u2019s death under the knee of now ex-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring those demonstrations in 2020, there were several incidents of journalists also being threatened, detained, or arrested, Williams said, citing a reporter who was pushed by officers for filming an arrest despite showing an NYPD-issued press badge, and another who was \u201chit and tackled to the ground while wearing a jacket with the word \u2018PRESS.’\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cI can go on,\u201d Williams said, \u201cbut the point is clear: An NYPD-press badge meant nothing for officers who can decide to assault or arrest reporters for doing their job.\u201d<\/p>\n

But other First Amendment advocates fear that handing the responsibility to an office so closely associated with Mayor de Blasio, who has shown disdain for the media \u2014 or to any mayor for that matter \u2014 risks creating a whole new set of conflicts and possible retaliation over unfavorable coverage.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan that office be truly independent?,\u201d famed civil rights attorney Norm Siegel asked of MOME. \u201cAll mayor\u2019s are thin-skinned,\u201d added Siegel. \u201cMy experience with numerous mayors going back to Ed Koch and Giuliani is they don\u2019t like it when journalists are critical of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Siegel says he pushed for the credentials to be issued instead by the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection because it\u2019s already in the business of handing out licenses for city businesses, like street vending and horse-drawn carriages, and he believes they have proven themselves \u201cindependent.\u201d <\/p>\n

In fact, the original version of the bill would have assigned the credential responsibility to the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, but Siegel says de Blasio pushed to assign the responsibility to MOME and the bill was changed after it was introduced. <\/p>\n

A spokeswoman for Powers added: \u201cNo matter which city agency handles it, that agency would have a commissioner app<\/a>ointed by the mayor.\u201d <\/p>\n

Major press associations say the new bill caught them by surprise when it was introduced earlier this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would have been nice if they consulted more with the press,\u201d said Mickey Osterreicher, an attorney representing the National Press Photographers Association. <\/p>\n

While groups like the Deadline Club, the New York Press Club and the New York Press Photographers Association were pushing for NYPD reforms, they weren\u2019t pushing it to be strip<\/a>ped of its press responsibility.<\/p>\n

Critics also point out that MOME has proven unfriendly to photographers in the way it\u2019s handled film shoots or sponsored events like the Macy\u2019s Thanksgiving Day Parade or Dick Clark Productions\u2019 New Year\u2019s Eve celebration. <\/p>\n

Photographers who make their living photographing celebrities, meanwhile, say MOME has been known to use police to block them from getting anywhere near one of their events or productions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt turns police into security guards for big media companies,\u201d complained one freelance photographer of MOME. \u201cThere\u2019s no public safety reason to prevent photographers from shooting at these events,\u201d added the photographer, who said he was frequently blocked from shooting from a public sidewalk. <\/p>\n

Added Osterreicher of MOME: \u201cIn some cases, wearing a press badge gave you even less rights than the general<\/a> public. The public was allowed to walk down a sidewalk, while the photographers were forced to stand in a press pen a few blocks away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Press groups are, however, applauding new provisions that allow for a hearing process if press credentials are denied or revoked. <\/p>\n

\n
\"A
A journalist reports on a story outside Lincoln Center.<\/figcaption>
Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Under the old arrangement, the NYPD was \u201caccuser, judge and executioner,\u201d said Siegel, who has tangled with the NYPD on press issues for years. Added Osterreicher: \u201cAny police officer could revoke your press credential or threaten to revoke it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new bill would have disputes over credentials sent to the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings (OATH).<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is a great change,\u201d said DeVries. <\/p>\n

When told of the photographers\u2019 concerns about being blocked from MOME events, Powers said that before any changeover is enacted sometime next year there will be rule-making sessions to seek input from press groups and iron out details. <\/p>\n

No date has yet been set for deBlasio to sign the bill, but it is on his desk awaiting a signature, Powers said. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to be watching carefully to make sure the rules are appropriate and fair,\u201d said DeVries. Added, Osterreicher: \u201cThere is no perfect solution, but the credentialing process is still important.\u201d\n <\/p><\/div>\n

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Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“#Move to give mayor’s office press pass power stirs controversy” A move to give the Mayor\u2019s office responsibility for press passes that have long been handled by the New York Police Department is generating controversy from all sides. The Mayor\u2019s Office of Media and Entertainment is on track to take over the issuance, suspension and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":222555,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/media-ink-press-passes.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[101255,5042,4935,76983],"class_list":["post-222554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-4-8-21","tag-bill-de-blasio","tag-media-ink","tag-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222554","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=222554"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222554\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/222555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=222554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=222554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=222554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}