Background: Originally published August 11, 2004. The press pass that is mentioned in this column served a useful purpose a second time, when I covered President George Bush's public appearance at the Jackson County Expo Park in Central Point.
Whenever I hear the term "press pass," I either chuckle or roll my eyes, depending on whom I'm talking with. Press pass is some generic term that presumably refers to a document that allows journalists to gain access to events not open to the public.
Being someone from the "old school" of journalism, I frown on such inferences. Journalists have no more legal rights than any other American citizen. We can get speeding tickets (and often do) for rushing to a crime scene. When a reporter "demands" access to a government document or a public meeting, he/she is exercising a Constitutional right that every American citizen is free to exercise.
Thus, for me, press passes often conjure up images of freeloading journalists who crash a football game or other "fun" event and partake of the free buffets that are offered.
Besides, what special authority is bestowed upon the owner of a press pass? In today's age, anyone with a computer and a printer can fabricate a "press pass" that looks authentic to the naked eye. There are no standards or guidelines for what a press pass should look like.
Last month I was required to obtain a press pass for the first time since I became a reporter in 1989. United States Vice-President Dick Cheney was coming to Medford and the U.S. Secret Service required the names of every reporter who would be covering his appearance.
Reporters' names had to be submitted in advance in order to allow time for a background check and they were required to show their press passes when they arrived at the Medford Airport.
This prompted a brief moment of head-scratching in the newsroom. Journalists in southern Oregon are accustomed to freely coming and going as they please, the same as any American citizen can freely go as he/she pleases. We don't use press passes to gain access to public places; even the tightly-secured U.S. Forest Service building in downtown Medford is content with simply checking a reporter's drivers license for identification purposes.
(Checking identification to enter a public building raises another Constitutional issue, but that's a topic for a future column.)
The problem was solved the morning of Vice-President Cheney's visit to Medford. My station's promotions director handed me my very first press pass when I walked into the building. It was a pivotal moment in my journalism career. I didn't know whether to beam with pride or frown in disgust.
But there was no mistaking the press pass in my hand was my very own. I recognized the photograph. It was the same picture that hung in the lobby of KOBI-TV. The simple solution to our press pass problem had been to make copies of the reporters' pictures in the lobby, and then transfer those images to a small, square placard that hung around our necks.
That afternoon, I arrived at the Medford airport a few minutes before the KOBI-TV live van operator showed up. The Secret Service agent had therefore become aware of who I was before my co-worker showed up.
As the Secret Service was scrutinizing the press pass of my van operator, the agent jokingly said, "I don't know, what do you think, should we let him in?"
I replied, "I'm not sure, these press passes were only put together this morning."
The agent's smile vanished as he said, "Are you serious?"
"Yeah, we've never had to use one before to cover a story in Medford."
Without any further discussion, the agent waved us both through.
Originally, I was going to throw away my makeshift press pass, but now it has a special sticker attached to it that says "Visit of the Vice President."
Yes, press passes do fulfill a need in my life, but not for identification purposes. Mine simply hangs by my desk, a souvenir of the one day in my life when I was required to have a press pass.
No comments:
Post a Comment