[Desertdog]

If this has been run before, I am sorry, I missed it.

Maybe we can get them to join our ranks of fighting for a Constitutional right! We help them, they help us.
Wait until they are refused refused credentials because they were telling the truth about somebody or something.
What is happening to the freedom of the press.

City Hall to require journalists' fingerprints
http://www.illinoisleader.com/news/newsview.asp?c=6404

Wednesday, June 18, 2003

By Steve Stanek (sstanek@illinoisleader.com)


CHICAGO -- Chicago is a few weeks away from a new program to fingerprint and conduct criminal background checks on each of the 3,000 reporters and editors who request press credentials from the city.


Critics in the news media say the proposal smells suspiciously like licensing of journalists, but a Chicago Police Department spokesman said non-credentialed reporters would be allowed to work in the city, though probably with less access to certain persons or places. Safety concerns are the reason for the proposal, according to Dave Bayless, the department's director of news affairs.


"If something happened where a person gained access to a 911 center or police headquarters with a credential and we had not done the necessary check, where would fingers be pointing?" Bayless said. "This is part risk management and building in measures to enhance safety. You and I know the chances are remote that a nutcase would use one of these, but a lot of things people never imagined have happened."


Chicago's planned program does not sit well with most news people, according to Steve Scott, news director at WLS-AM 890 radio in Chicago and president of the Illinois News Broadcasters Association.


"When (former Illinois governor) George Ryan made his trip to Cuba, the first thing we did (as reporters) was pay $60 US for a journalist's license," Scott said. "Nobody in Chicago is asking us to pay -- yet -- but is that what's next? I don't know.


"It's not the mayor, it's his police department that wants to do this," Scott said, "but I suppose all things in Chicago point to the fifth floor at city hall. The media have not yet seen in writing exactly what they plan to do. It's hard to mount consistent opposition if all you know is verbal communications."



Bayless promised to have the program in writing shortly. But he said there likely will be no negotiating with news people over the way the program works.


Los Angeles has been requiring fingerprints and background checks -- and charging each credentialed reporter $50 -- for many years, according to Bayless. Bayless said there are no plans to charge Chicago's news people and added he "has no idea" how much the program will cost the city.


The police department began a review of policies and procedures after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The proposal to fingerprint and run background checks on news people grew out of that review.


"A person can now show up with an application and news clips and he would get a yellow sheet laminated, something anyone could make with $50 of equipment," Bayless said. "It's on city ordinance now to collect fingerprints. We decided we would explore the option to collect fingerprints from persons who apply for credentials. With that would come a background check, the thought being to bring more integrity and scrutiny to the process and make cards more difficult to counterfeit."


The new credentials would be on a credit card stock and have the bearer's photo superimposed onto the card with a hologram logo.


To obtain a credential under the new program, a person would have to fill out an application, signed by a news editor. The person's photo and fingerprints would then be taken and the police would conduct a criminal background check. If the background check comes back clean, the credential would be issued and the fingerprints would be returned to the applicant. They would not go into a database, according to Bayless.


If the background check shows outstanding warrants or other problems, the department would follow up as needed.


"If you are a registered sex offender or have outstanding warrants, that would be a basis for denial," Bayless said. "If you are a sex offender, you will not be able to go into a school and cover a class under our credential. If you have outstanding warrants, if they're serious, we would ask you to come in. We would not ask the boss to send you in. We'd clear up the warrants and decide whether to credential."


In exchange for going through the new credential process, a person "won't face as much scrutiny," when covering an event, according to Bayless. "It would get you into the media briefing room without having to go through a metals search. So it can make things a little more convenient. This is about giving our process more integrity and people who choose to apply some convenience for doing so."


Scott said he and other news people worry that it's also about limiting access to persons or news organizations that don't go along.


"What if the Chicago Tribune says, 'You know, we're not going to get the PD credentials.' Then the Sun-Times says, 'We're going to do it.' Where does that put the Trib?" Scott said. "What if WLS says no, but other stations go along? It can put somebody at a disadvantage.


"The police department has said the credential will not stop a person from being a reporter. I suppose that's correct. But it does obviously limit some access. If I go to police department headquarters, I need to show a credential. If I go to back to the chambers of city hall, I need to show a credential. If I'm at a big fire and reporters are being briefed inside the perimeter but I need a credential to get inside the perimeter, I'm at a disadvantage."


Last year the Chicago Headline Club, the local professional chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, sent a letter to Mayor Richard Daley asking him to reject the proposal. The letter said in part:




The department plans to enforce a city code provision (Chapter 4-328 of the Municipal Code of the City of Chicago) that has been on the books for decades but never has been enforced. Had the Headline Club known of the code's existence, we would have asked for a review immediately. We do so now.

After conducting research and consulting with our attorney, Jon A. Duncan, the Headline Club has a series of concerns:


1) In other jurisdictions, most recently Omaha, Neb., in November 2001, police dropped plans to fingerprint reporters for background checks. The department decided that doing so amounted to "licensing of the news media," according to the Reporters' Committee for the Freedom of the Press. Background checks are not mentioned in the Chicago ordinance, but Police News Affairs personnel have told Headline Club officials that such checks would be "likely," with the possibility that credentials could be denied. We question the constitutionality of such undertakings.


2) Fingerprinting and possible background checks constitute a possible invasion of privacy.


3) We are neither employees nor contractors of the government, but act independently to report and critique the government for the public's benefit. The regulations could have a chilling effect on our work.


4) The ordinance is clearly dated. It makes no mention of television, cable or online journalism. It instead allows for "news-reel" photographers, a breed extinct for at least 40 years.


5) The ordinance makes no provision for part-time or freelance journalists.




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Steve Stanek is a free lance writer who has written for several mainstream news sources over the last ten years. Illinois Leader is pleased to add Mr. Stanek to our list of contributors. (He is not related to fellow Illinois Leader writer and operations manager Jill Stanek.)

[El Tejon]

I want a $200 tax per article and LE approval before they may publish an article!!! BTW, I want all printer and typewriters registered just like Romanian--end the publishing fingerprint loophole.:cool:

[Hkmp5sd]

I find it amusing that the same people that argue it is only logical to register firearms and firearm owners ("After all, if you're not a criminal, why does it matter?") are the same people that oppose fingerprint, DNA, AIDS, etc. databases because it violates their right to privacy.

Why should reporters seeking access to restricted locations (crime scenes, police stations, backstage at political events, etc.) not first have to be fingerprinted and have a background check? This requirement does not prevent them from reporting, so if they don't want to do it, they don't have too.

[RAY WOODROW 3RD]

The other shoe drops!

:D Hahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaah! :D

What is that we keep telling them? Without the 2nd Amendment you will loose the 1st?

Let them languish! I hope that they have to get refingerprinted every year. They are not going to charge any fees? YEA RIGHT!

Better yet! They should have to have a nics check done for every story they do or every city hall meeting they attend. Who knows what they could have done in between stories.
What's good for the goose and all. Reporters are a dangerous lot.

Remember:

"the pen is mightier that the sword!"

:D Hahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaah! :D

[Standing Wolf]

Safety concerns are the reason for the proposal, according to Dave Bayless, the department's director of news affairs.

I had a hunch there'd have to be a perfectly rational explanation somewhere: "safety concerns." Yeah. Sure. You bet. No need for further questions, I'm sure.

[Billll]

...with the understanding, of course, that if they write anything bad about the regieme, they'll lose their access, and possibly be deported. Just like in Iraq under Hussien.

[Lord Grey Boots]

Lets see, 7 days isn't too long to wait so the government can verify the accuracy of a news story, right?

[Byron Quick]

Folks

We have a choice: 1) We can choose to protect ALL of the Bill of Right or 2) We choose to protect SOME of the Bill of Rights as the ACLU does.

Which would you prefer?

[Hkmp5sd]

Actually, I don't see this as a violation of the 1st Amendment. They are not stopping reporters from writing anything. They are merely requiring what they consider proper ID before allowing reporters access to certain areas and city officials. This isn't even close to the "hoops" reporters have to go through to get access to press conferences in the White House.

[Glamdring]

They should add an "instant" check for purchasing cameras, computers, pens, etc. Imagine what could happen if just anyone could write? Drive by poems? Mass writings? Character assasinations?

[Waitone]

Sweeeet!

[Pward]

This is a joke :eek: yes :) no

[Elmer Snerd]

BTW, I want all printer and typewriters registered just like Romania--end the publishing fingerprint loophole
They should also register all pens, and turn in writing samples for Ballpoint Fingerprinting.

I have heard that equipment such as automatic spell checkers, concealable tape recorders, telescopic "sniper" cameras, high-capacity notepads, and laser printers(that allow anyone to print with increased precision) can be purchased(without a background check) from shady people at "Journalism Trade Shows". First Amendment activists are always whining about "legitimate uses by law abiding citizens", but only a "Pen Nut" would be worried about regulating such fiendish devices.

[CleverNickname]

No honest man needs more than a quill pen and an inkwell.

[Gophfer]

OMG! :what:

While I see the "just deserts", I feel as mad about this as I do about the attacks on the second. :fire: :banghead:

[Mark Tyson]

One day reporters who write embarassing stories about the local government may find difficulty getting their licenses renewed . . .

[AZRickD]

Since Steve's e-mail addy is on the top of the article, I just had to write...

sstanek@illinoisleader.com

Steve,

It's as if your article could have been published on www.theonion.com .

I guess it's time for you to walk a mile in our shoes. Gun owners (especially in Chicago).

I recall three years ago in May 2003 during the MMMarch counter
demonstration a comely black chic who said she was there because "I knew
if I didn't show up it would be just a bunch of white guys," borrowed
one of the signs I made. It read simply, "Register Reporters".

I never saw her again. Damn she was gorgeous. Hell, maybe she was a plant.

Anyway, she told me after the protest that a reporterette saw the sign
and confronted her. The reporter was pissed, and annoyed.

I have often used the argument technique of measuring the 2nd amendment
with the words of the First amendment. It always left reporters smug in
the knowledge that they would never have to register their faxes or be
required to submit their stories to a government fact checker (after a
five day waiting period).

Wellllllll. That day has come...

So, Steve. Are you and your fellow journalists ready to make common cause with gun owners?

I didn't think so.

Rick DeStephens
Phoenix, Arizona

[AZTOY]

:D :D

Nice very nice!!!

[itgoesboom]

Im not too suprised at all. When i worked as a freelance photographer in San Diego, if we wanted Press Credentials, we had to submit an application, signed by an editor, submit to a background check, have our photos taken, and i am pretty sure that i was fingerprinted as well.

The reason i was always given was that as a (photo)journalist, we were often expected to do assingments on school grounds, and they wanted to make sure they didn't have any pedophiles or criminals having real close access to kids.

Most of the journalists i knew thought the Press Credentialing process was a good idea, or at least never complained about the process, for several reasons. First, we understood that we often would have access to events and areas that the general public did not. Second, it was used to keep the "hacks" out, those that really didn't work for any real editorial source, but would show up to everything anyways.

Now that i live in Oregon, there really isn't any credentialling procedure, cuz they don't give out any credentials. Its the responsibility of the organization to provide credentials to reporters and photographers, and the police arent involved in any way. Honestly, its kind of a pain, and i wish that the police would issue a specific credential like they did in California. Now the only credentials i carry are organization specific, and won't help in many situations.

With that said, a credential is often times not really needed, and i sometimes forgot mine, or didn't have it with me when news was breaking, and sometimes, you just woulnd't want people to really know that you were working for the press. . When i first started freelancing i was told by the editor of a small paper that i was shooting for that he wasn't going to give me a press pass, no business cards, and nothing to identify me as working for that paper, because if i couldn't talk my way in without a credential or a business card, then i wasn't going to make it in the industry.

I.G.B.

[Gophfer]

Ya mean you don't just stick a PRESS card in the hatband of your Fedora?:D

[AZRickD]

ItGoesBoom sezThe reason i was always given was that as a (photo)journalist ... they wanted to make sure they didn't have any pedophiles or criminals having real close access to kids.
To that I respond:

"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom: it is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."
William Pitt

The bad guys can always give a rationale.

Boom sezMost of the journalists i knew thought the Press Credentialing process was a good idea...it was used to keep the "hacks" out, those that really didn't work for any real editorial source, but would show up to everything anyways.
1) The journalists like it when a restrictive work guild is set up. Less competition.

2) These "hacks" are now internet bloggers who do a better job of getting the story out than say, credentialed first-year journalism grads or long-time pros such as Maureen Dowd.

They think the news much be filtered by them for us. Problem is, most journalists have become willing mouth-pieces for big government. They resent the newsletter writers (for your gun club, perhaps), they resent the low output radio broadcasters, and they fear the internet.

If they think this won't be used to exclude journalists, that's because they don't think of anyone else as being worthy of the title. I do not need an editorial board to cover a story.

Rick

[Henry Bowman]

Only an extremist would oppose reasonable press control.

Up next . . . priest licensing/registration. (It's for the children!)

:D

[BenW]

Ya mean you don't just stick a PRESS card in the hatband of your Fedora?
Fade to scene in the Three Stooges episode, "Three Little Beers":

Moe: "Press"
Larry: "Press"
Curly: "Pull. Nyuck Nyuck Nyuck."
:D

[AZRickD]

Here is the response I got from the reporter...

========

Mr. DeStephens:

Thanks much for your letter regarding the article I wrote on Chicago's plans to fingerprint and run background checks on reporters.

I plan to write a followup article pointing out the parallels gun owners are drawing between their plight and what may happen to reporters in Chicago.

You asked if other reporters and I are ready to make common cause with gun owners and answered your question by saying you didn't think so.

I won't speak for other reporters but will tell you that I am a Bullseye shooter and member of the McHenry Rifle Club, the Illinois State Rifle Association and the National Rifle Association. Also, if you check out the Illinoisleader.com website, you'll see in the Spotlight archive an interview I did in May with John Lott, author of the bestseller "More Guns, Less Crime" and a new book, "The Bias Against Guns." In the Opinion archive you will see an article on gun control that I wrote June 25.

The mainstream news media are overwhelmingly liberal, no doubt about it. But there are voices who try to be fair and understand conservative positions. Outlets like Illinoisleader.com give us opportunities we often don't have in the mainstream press. That is why such websites are growing in number and influence.

Thanks again for reading and commenting on my article. And keep checking out Illinoisleader.com. Though our focus is Illinois, we often have articles that pertain to issues outside Illinois. For instance, we had articles commenting on the recent Supreme Court rulings.

Steve Stanek

[AZRickD]

A friend forwarded me a short clip from the Arizona Republic. No URL available.
In today’s AZ Repugnant section F1 in the “buzz” column is the following:

“Three years ago Valley Second Amendment advocate Rick DeStephens irritated the media by carrying a “REGISTER REPORTERS” sign during a rally against gun registration.

Now the Illinois Leader reports that “Chicago is a few weeks away from a new program to fingerprint and conduct background checks on each of the 3,000 reporters and editors who request press credentials from that city.” Rick asks if there will be a “five day waiting period” to file story.
Paul comments:

What is interesting from first glance is that they called it “gun registration” and not gun control. Another subtle change is Rick is not referred to as “radical 2nd amendment advocate” or “right wing 2nd advocate” and any other patronizing adjective.

Maybe the press is starting to catch on.

Let’s get them all if we can, after all this is a common sense solution to the security issues around news safety. If it prevents one new story tragedy during a time of crisis from happening then I am all for it.


Paul
Remember the Maine.