The New York Press Club

Press Release from the Mayor's Office, March 23, 2009 (abridged)

MAYOR MICHAEL R. BLOOMBERG ANNOUNCES NEW STEPS TO HELP FREELANCERS WORK IN NEW YORK CITY IN SPEECH TO ECONOMIC CLUB OF NEW YORK

Through New Partnership with Freelancers Union, City will Work to Establish New Unemployment Safety Net for Independent Workers, Identify Office Space, and Persuade Albany to Reduce or Eliminate the Unincorporated Business Tax.

“Since the markets crashed last fall, we’ve been expanding our job training efforts by keeping our Workforce1 Career Centers open on nights and weekends. Back in 2004, those centers were placing 500 New Yorkers in jobs per year. Last year, even with the downturn, the Centers placed more than 17,000 New Yorkers in jobs, and we’re aiming for 20,000 placements in 2009.

“We also want to increase entrepreneurialism in the City. After all, losing a job can be a golden opportunity to start your own business. (Thank you very much, Salomon Brothers.)

“Earlier this morning, we launched our latest entrepreneurial initiative, called the FastTrac New Venture Program. It’s a partnership with the Kauffman Foundation to provide training to aspiring entrepreneurs and recently laid-off workers who are interested in starting their own businesses. Increasing the number of entrepreneurs will not only create new jobs; it will help create the companies that – when the good times return – will be ready to capitalize on new opportunities.

“We also want to give people more incentive to work – and for many who are laid off, that can mean self-employment or freelance work. These independent workers make up more than 15 percent of our workforce – often supporting our signature industries, such as design, publishing, and fashion. As many larger companies shed jobs and industries go through a fundamental restructuring, even more people are turning to freelance work – and there’s nothing like being your own boss.

“But freelancers, who are often middle-class entrepreneurs, have never had much political clout, and so they face some serious disadvantages when it comes to taxes and benefits.

“I think it’s time to start leveling the playing field for freelancers, and today, I’m pleased to announce that we’ll be forming a new partnership with the Freelancers Union to begin addressing these long-standing problems.

“Problem number one is that New York State has an Unincorporated Business Tax that double-taxes independent contractors and sole proprietors. We’re pushing to reduce or eliminate that tax for 17,000 businesses. That would let them keep more of their hard-earned money – and it would encourage more people to do freelance work… which is exactly the kind of economic activity that can end up creating jobs and stimulating growth.

“Freelancers also lack any safety net to fall back on during hard times. If a company lays you off, you can collect unemployment. But if you’re a freelancer and you lose all your clients, good luck. That’s not healthy for workers and their families – and it’s not healthy for our economy.

“And so today, I’m pleased to announce that we will be working with the Freelancers Union to develop a proposal that would create a federal unemployment benefit for independent workers. One way this could work is to create a fund that workers would contribute to and that would also offer freelancers some level of tax benefits.

“Our new partnership with the Freelancers Union will also work to create more affordable office space. In January, we launched an initiative to create new incubator space for aspiring entrepreneurs – because overhead is often one of the major obstacles to growth. In the months ahead, we’ll work with the union to find space specifically for freelancers – and we’ll help them market the benefit to their members.

“I know the union’s president, Sara Horowitz, is here with us today, and Sara, we look forward to working closely with you and other leaders to make New York City as freelance-friendly as possible.

2009 NYP Placards Delayed as Legal Issues Mulled

February 3rd, 2009

A source close to the situation tells the Press Club that this year's delay in the distribution of NYP Parking Placards is likely the result of an internal investigation by NYPD lawyers into various legal aspects of the department's role and procedures in issuing the cards.

The placards are used by reporters, photographers and news crews as a way of identifying "on assignment" press vehicles to traffic enforcement agents.

Distribution delays at the beginning of each year are not uncommon though this year the placards are especially late, judging from the number of "what's going on?" inquiries received from concerned Press Club members.

The well-placed source tells the Club that the cause this time is most likely an internal study that is an offshoot of the recent NYPD decision to issue Press Identification Cards to three individuals whose initial requests for the credential had been denied.

In a lawsuit, the trio charged that the NYPD process for allocating press credentials is inconsistent and unconstitutional, claiming it permits the department to arbitrarily deny press cards to journalists whose viewpoints are controversial, unpopular or in some way disagreeable to the NYPD.

Among other remedies, the suit demanded that NYPD be required to publically explain its criteria and its processes for deciding who is credentialed and who is not. The department relented on the main demand in January and issued Press ID cards to the three.

Even after that victory, the lawyer for the three men, Norman Siegel, said he would continue fighting what he characterized as NYPD's unconstitutional credentialing process.

While not directly related to the press ID card case, says our source, the placard delay has likely been ordered while the department studies its positions and options as an issuer of any kind of press credential.

Press Club Urges Members to Contact Senators
To Demand Passage of "Shield Law" - S. 2035

Contact Your Senator

Because of security procedures on Capitol Hill, delivery of regular mail often takes more than two weeks to reach congressional offices. E-mail is now preferred as a means of registering your opinion on pending matters.

NEW YORK
Hillary Clinton Phone: (202) 224-4451 | E-mail.
Charles Schumer Phone: (202) 224-6542 | E-mail.

NEW JERSEY
Robert Menendez Phone: (202) 224-4744 | E-mail.
Frank Lautenberg Phone: (202) 224-3224 | E-mail.

CONNECTICUT
Christopher Dodd Phone: (202) 224-2823 | E-mail.
Joe Lieberman Phone: (202) 224-4041 | E-mail.

Stalled last Summer on a failed cloture vote, S. 2035 ("Free Flow of Information Act") has taken a back seat to the numerous economic crisis debates that have been occupying Washington so far this term..

The New York Press Club is nevertheless urging members to contact their senators to encourage them to revive the bill.

Besides the cloture attempt which failed by 9 votes, no action has been taken since the bill was voted out of committee in October of 2007 (15-2).

The measure is sponsored by (among others) Senators Arlen Specter (R-Pa), Charles Schumer (D-NY), Richard Lugar (R-IN), Christopher Dodd (D-CT), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC).

The bill establishes a federal privilege for reporters to protect and encourage the free flow of information between journalists and confidential sources. It seeks to reconcile reporters' need to maintain confidentiality, in order to ensure that sources will speak openly and freely, with the public's right to effective law enforcement and fair trials.

In order to balance these competing interests, this bill creates a qualified privilege for reporters to withhold information they obtain under a promise of confidentiality. It ensures that a federal court can only force a journalist to reveal confidential source information where the information is truly critical to a case or investigation. It also requires the party seeking a reporter's confidential information to exhaust all reasonable alternative sources before turning to the media.

The bill also contains exceptions to the privilege for those situations where information sharing is critical. A reporter may not withhold his source information where it is needed to prevent a terrorist attack, significant harm to our national security, death, kidnapping, or substantial bodily harm.

Journalists who witness crimes also cannot refuse to share their eyewitness observations.

The House passed its verison of a Shield Law, 398 to 21.

New York Press Club Endorses S.2035 in Letter to Senator Schumer

October 4, 2007

Dear Senator Schumer:

The New York Press Club strongly endorses the Free Flow of Information Act of 2007.

We believe a shield law is vitally necessary to protect the public’s right to a free press. Journalists and the confidential sources on which we depend need to be shielded from those who would jeopardize our mission of exposing wrongdoing and furthering the cause of justice.

We are glad to join the other news media organizations that have come out in support of this legislation.

Stephannia Cleaton
President

Gabe Pressman
Chairman, Freedom of the Press Committee

12-Steps to a More Employable You

From Mark Briggs, Assistant Managing Editor for Interactive News at The News Tribune in Tacoma, WA, whose blog, Journalism 2.0, is a 'must read'.

We have decades and decades invested in doing things based on old rules. Now, the rules have changed, and newsrooms need to change as well. We need new attitudes and new cultures. This will only happen if individual journalists put forward the effort to change their minds about what their jobs are and how they do them. Here are twelve things journalists can do to help us recreate journalism for the 21st Century.

Become a blogger
By this, I don't necessarily mean "start a blog," but that is never a bad idea. More importantly, become an avid blog reader. Blogs should be a daily routine for every dedicated journalist. They should read every blog related to their beats. They should read blogs about their own interests and hobbies. They should read blogs about their profession. To get blogging is to get how things have changed.

Become a producer
Pick up a digital recorder, a point-and-shoot camera or a video camera and start producing content beyond text. Do this as part of your job, fine, or do it on your personal time. The goal is to understand DIY. Post stuff on YouTube, Flickr or any number of other UGC sites.

Participate
As you read blogs, leave comments. If your newspaper.com has comments on stories, read the comments and add your own. Become known as somebody who converses on the Internet.

Build a web site
It will greatly expand your mind about how the web works if you go a bit beyond just setting up an account on Blogger or WordPress. Learn a little HTML. Better yet, learn some PHP, Cold Fusion, JavaScript or other web development language. You should own your own domain, anyway.

Become web literate
You should know what Flash is, and how it differs from AJAX. You should know the meaning of things like HTML, RSS, XML, IP, HTTP and FTP. You should understand at least how people use applications and tools to build web sites. You should know the potential and the limitations of each.

Use RSS
You need an RSS reader and lots of RSS feeds to consume. This will help you better understand distributed media.

Shop online
Part of your goal is to become immersed in the digital lifestyle. You will learn stuff about the digital life if you shop on Amazon, Ebay and other ecommerce sites. As you do, think about how these sites work and why they're set up as they are.

Buy mobile devices
Get a video iPod. Get a smart phone (an iPhone, Treo, Helio Ocean or Nokia N-series are all good places to start). Learn about distributed, take-it with-you-anywhere content. Buy a laptop and tap into some free wi-fi while you're out and about. Learn what digital life is like when you're not shackled to a desktop machine.

Become an avid consumer of digital content
Watch videos on YouTube. Download video and audio podcasts (take them with you on your iPod). Visit the best newspaper sites in the world and watch what they're doing. Turn on your TV less and your computer more.

Be a learner
Technology and culture is changing fast. You can't keep up unless you're dedicated to learning. I love this quote from Eric Hoffer because it is so appropriate to what our industry is going through now: "In a time of drastic change it is the learners who inherit the future. The learned usually find themselves beautifully equipped to live in a world that no longer exists." Talk about what you're learning with your co-workers.

Be a change agent
Get other journalists excited about the new digital communication/media tools.

Don't wait
...for a boss to tell you to become a learner and an explorer. Your job is just where you collect your paycheck. You career is what you do. Your boss isn't responsible for your career. You are. Solely. Don't wait on others to make changes. Start making changes now for your own benefit. It's great if your employer benefits from your growth, but you will benefit more.

Working Press Snagged in Parking Abuse Crackdown

Members of the working press are among those feeling the sting of unexpected citations and even removal of their vehicles by tow trucks in the wake of Mayor Bloomberg's recently announced crackdown on parking abuses.

In response to complaints from citizens and to documentation by various Web sites and local news outlets of blatant parking abuses, the mayor began a campaign earlier this year to review and when warranted, revoke the special-purpose parking permits issued to government employees and to certain private citizens.

The placard review campaign appears to be accompanied by an aggressive, stick-to-the-rules policy by traffic enforcement agents that, among other groups, is affecting holders of NYP credentials.

Exact numbers are not available but one estimate suggests that the five boroughs are awash in nearly 150,000 parking placards of one sort or another. Some of those placards may have been issued inappropriately, are being used inappropriately or are outright forgeries.

We know of no revocations involving NYP plates/placards but a number of Press Club members whose vehicles carry legitimately issued NYP credentials have reported receiving citations in recent weeks when parked while on assignment in locations that previously had been "safe".

After conversations with city officials who are at the forefront of the new enforcement action, the Press Club is urging members to be mindful of the city's new vigilance and of the stringent interpretation of the law now being practiced by many traffic agents.

Members with NYP plates and placards are reminded that those credentials do not provide carte blanche parking privileges. In fact, under the law, they provide very few "extra" parking options.

The purpose of NYP plates and placards is to identify the vehicles of working reporters who are on assignment. But there is no legal guarantee of immunity from citation if those vehicles are parked illegally (except, maybe, at expired meters or on the wrong 'alternate side' of the street).

Members are reminded of the basics - even in DOT-designated NYP Zones, parking is usually time-limited (three hours). Double-parking is never tolerated. Nor is parking in a No Standing Anytime zone or when obstructing a hydrant, or in crosswalks, bus stops, construction areas or in such a way as to impede the flow of traffic or create a hazard. Obstructing bicycle lanes is also emerging as a bone of contention.

NYPD Still Issuing Press Credentials

NYPD is still the credentialing authority for members of the city's press corps and has no plans to abandon that role, says a spokesman for the department's Deputy Commissioner, Public Information (DCPI).

Rumors surface from time to time about NYPD's commitment to press credentialing. It is a service, the spokesman says, that consumes significant time and resources. The department charges no fees for issuing several types of credentials which, the spokesman says, total more than 3,000 each year.

The most recent round of rumors that the department is abandoning its credentialing role may have been sparked by an appearance last September by DCPI Paul J. Browne at a gathering of journalists. Browne responds, reportedly to the question 'do you think the police department should be in the business of issuing press credentials', by asking the group for opinions on a plan he said he was "seriously considering" - eliminating completely all types of press credentialing by NYPD.

Several New York Press Club members have reported that in recent weeks, holders of NYPD-issued Press Identification Cards (PIC's) which are distinct from and some feel, are less authoritative than NYPD Working Press Cards, have been denied renewals by the department or have been asked to prove that their work takes them into regular contact with police and fire lines.

It is a published requirement of the department that to qualify for PIC's and Working Press Cards applicants must have need to cross police or fire lines in the regular course of their jobs.

The DCPI spokesman confirmed that the department is strictly enforcing its qualification requirements for all NYPD press credentials, including PIC's, which he said are issued "as a courtesy". He denied that NYPD has plans to drop its credentialing role and he also denied that credentials are being withheld without cause.

He said the department is "ahead of schedule" in renewing credentials for 2008-2009 and that it has already completed the renewal of all credentials for which it had received valid applications.

Holders of any NYPD press credential who feel renewal has been unfairly denied should call DCPI and schedule an appeal interview: 646-610-6700.

NYPD provides comprehensive information about qualifications and press credentialing on its Web site.