By Carlos Miller
Rafael Martínez Alequin published the Brooklyn Free Press, a tabloid community newspaper that ran for almost two decades before he took it online in 2003 and called it The New York City Free Press.
David Wallis published a book and founded www.featurewell.com, an online syndication service that provides news to more than 1,500 magazines throughout the world.
And Ralph E. Smith is publisher of the Guardian Chronicle, a website that targets black law enforcement workers. He is also a public information officer for the New York City Corrections Department.
The three men were denied press credentials from the New York City Police Department because they do not work for a “legitimate news organization”. Last week, the three men sued the police department.
The lawsuit, filed in Federal District Court in Manhattan, asserts that the three men were denied press credentials in 2007 “with little explanation or opportunity for appeal,” and that the system for issuing press credentials is “inconsistent and constitutionally flawed.”
The lawsuit is the latest debate between the quest for legitimacy from the New Media, which is essentially anything published in print or online that is not affiliated with a major corporate news entity, and the Old Media, a conglomeration of corporations that has reluctantly acknowledged the New Media’s existence.
The last time the debate arose was in the wake of the mass arrests at the Republican National Convention in September, in which Minneapolis officials tried to determine which journalists would be entitled to have their charges dropped. It basically boiled down to the clout of the organization backing them.
But Freedom of the Press, which is part of the First Amendment, does not differentiate between the corporate media and independent journalists like myself (not that I was not once part of the corporate media).
In this day and age of media conglomeration and downsizing, it is only natural to expect a rise of independent media sources, such as Photography is Not a Crime. And I’ll put my journalistic skills and experience against any corporate media reporter any day of the week.
Rather than clarify the issue on Freedom of the Press, The New York Times kicks off its article on the NYPD lawsuit by asking the following question:
“In the ever-shifting media landscape of 2008, who, exactly, is a journalist?”
Being the legitimate news organization that it is, The New York Times should instead ask: “Just whom exactly determines who is a journalist?” Because in this case, it is the New York City Police Department.
And if we’re going to allow our local police departments to determine who qualifies as legitimate media, then we’ve already lost the concept of the Fourth Estate. Then we’ve already given up on Freedom of the Press.
And we might as well kiss the First Amendment goodbye.
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Fernandez, as I mentioned in a 
just had to comment here, while I am not a member of NYPD press i to agree the system is messed up. I and a fellow photographer were visiting NYC for the Macys 4th of july for July 4th 2009, We called a branch known to very few called the DCPI, we were emailed the press release and told that our credentials were not valid NYPD credentials. We were also told where the media would be and that our credentials would be honored for this event as lo9ng as they had our photo and media outlet displayed on them. We were told be TWO people at “DCPI” that we would be ok. On the day of the event the police had “no clue” however after displaying our badges we were slowly let through to the front of the barricades, when we finally reached the front press block we ran into a gentleman (i use that term very loosely) by the name of “Hayes”. This man was UNPROFESSIONALLY ARROGANT and rude towards us, he called our credentials “poorly made fakes” and continued to insult our intelligence. One of the reporters with me wanted to “slap him” and though he deserved it she held back her temper. The end result was to quote hayes ” you tired, you came down here, you lost, your not getting in, exit the area up to 11th ave immediately, if you are caught here you will be cited for trespassing”
I tried to shake his hand but he brushed me off, its my guess the “DCPI” whoever they are does not look to carefully about who they employ, and as far as hayes he wasn’t the smartest tack in the box either.
I don’t know about NYC press, but they treat visiting press with disrespect and arrogance, don’t get me wrong the NYPD were very polite, and the people on teh phone were also, but this “hayes” character was a power tripping loser that should not be in a place of authority. My office is filing a complaint with the city of new york, what happens with that will remain to be seen.
It is a sad day when a city has to deny legitimate journalists and members of the media access, or when we cant do our job because arrogant unintelligent employees take power trips on a daily basis. Research has indicated past events like this with this “hayes” character from press that were visiting from out of state.
Long story short we went to NJ and the police treated us very well over there and we got the footage we needed. Hope everyone had a happy 4th!
mental note: rick the NJ press had never heard of the “DCPI” and lots of NYPD didnt know of them either, this hayes guy treated us like common thugs, my assistant almost belted him, when we got to NJ the media had filled up the area, but the NJPD got us into a house overlooking manhattan and since the house was due to be razed (demolished) anyways but had power, a detective that had been in the area looked at our creds and lwet us up to the 4th floor with a beautiful bay window view of the river.
The nj press reporter who gave us a ride back to kennedy drive (to get a bus back to NYC) said that next time we should call MACYS and ask their pR depaqrtyment for VIP passdes, we MIGHT do that, i wont lie the show was stunning, however our reception makes me think twice about NYC altogether for awhile.
DCPI is a division of the NYPD – it stands for Deputy Commissioner Public Information. That is the division responsible for issuing press passes.
If you follow the stories on this site and on my site you will see that your treatment by the NYPD was far from unusual – I am actually impressed that the patrol officers were nice.