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Topic: Press pass for freelance writer/photojournalist
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| Author | Message |
| MCM | Posted – 1/21/2005 8:40:14 PM | show profile | email poster I have seven years experience working for daily newspapers, but now that I've moved back home to Miami, I intend to work solely as a freelancer. But what should I do about press credentials? The Florida Highway Patrol and the Miami-Dade Police Department no longer issue them and I am hesistant of ordering one online through one of those companies that will not only sell you a press pass, they willl sell you a private investigator pass or whatever you want to be. I would like to have a press pass from a credible association. Any ideas? |
| JeanMarie | Posted – 1/21/2005 9:50:08 PM | show profile | email poster You didn't tell us.... What you want to write about? There isn't (to my knowledge) such a thing as a ''press pass'' from a credible organization. |
| joeliza | Posted – 1/21/2005 10:50:35 PM | show profile | email poster Press Pass Many times I just call the publicity department or marketing director of an event and let them know I'd like to attend to cover the story and they take care of you if it's important to them. If you freelance for a local newspaper they may be able to get one for you? Ask the editor you send articles to about getting one. |
| MCM | Posted – 1/21/2005 11:11:49 PM | show profile I write for various business, lifestyle and news magazines But I'm also a photographer and a press pass would make it easier to do my photojournalism job in certain events |
| VillageGal | Posted – 1/22/2005 8:51:59 AM | show profile Dont know about Miami but in NYC working press passes (the ones that get you past police lines) are issued by the NYPD and you need to prove that you shoot hard news to get one. Find out who issues them in your area and what kind of clips you need to qualify. |
| JeanMarie | Posted – 1/22/2005 12:46:08 PM | show profile | email poster Regarding photography.. As you know, there isn't going to be one credential that will get you everywhere you want to go. ''Event'' credentials are issued by the sponsoring organization. You still haven't been specific about the kinds of things you'd like to cover. Assuming you're not shooting on spec, the paper, b2b or consumer publication you're working for will obtain a credential for you. What am I missing here? What is it you REALLY want to do that you think you'll need a pass for? |
| Wiley | Posted – 1/22/2005 3:05:06 PM | show profile You can usually get a pass from the individual client you're working for on a particular project. Or, you can join the National Writers Union; they supply press passes for working journalists: www.nwu.org |
| JeanMarie | Posted – 1/22/2005 4:00:47 PM | show profile I'd stay clear... of any of the national pass-issuing organizations. As much a reputation issue as a logistical one. There is no quick-fix. You have to do the legwork. |
| MCM | Posted – 1/22/2005 7:11:52 PM | show profile I would use the pass mainly for breaking news Such as hurricanes, protests, election scandals, etc. I just want to be able to establish the fact that I am a professional photographer and not just some gawking tourist. I want to start selling these photographs to local papers and the AP. |
| Marie | Posted – 1/22/2005 8:27:20 PM | show profile I think you have to do what Village Gal suggested--find out what authority in Miami issues these credientials. The Police Dept.? And apply. If you're shooting regularly for a daily, such as the Miami Herald, I'm sure they'd give you the proper documents you need to present to the authorities issuing the press passes. As others have said, there's no national press credential. |
| seeyouinheck | Posted – 1/22/2005 8:56:33 PM | show profile make one go get a photo taken, go to Kinkos, then to Office Depot for some laminate and you're in |
| Marie | Posted – 1/22/2005 9:27:32 PM | show profile I doubt that would work. A city like Miami, just like New York, probably has pretty strict ideas about what constitutes a valid working press pass. And a do-it-yourself job with the word ''press'' on it from no validating authority is likely to evoke nothing but laughs. At least in would here and a lengthy explanation of policy. |
| MCM | Posted – 1/23/2005 3:43:21 AM | show profile All the local police agencies don't give them out anymore They said they stopped the practice two years ago because ''reporters were taking advantage''. |
| VillageGal | Posted – 1/23/2005 11:07:42 AM | show profile Carlos, so how do freelance photojournalists get them in Miami if not through the police? Do you really want to sell to AP? They buy all rights, own everything. |
| whosays | Posted – 1/23/2005 7:05:22 PM | show profile Why don't you contact your local chapter of the National Press Photographers Association? If any group would know how to get press credentials in Miami (or South Florida), the NPPA would. I held police-issued press credentials in three states, and covered disasters and big events in those states and others as a reporter, but no police agency ever asked to see a press credential or even an employee ID card. If your police agencies aren't issuing them, they may also not be asking to see them. Disasters are pretty much in the public domain, after all. |
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