By Tom Hunter
Son of a bitch.
The reporters in this town owe their credentials to the San Diego Police Department. That’s right. A friend with 30 years of credentials with the SDPD got the comment last time he renewed his Press Pass – “I haven’t heard one complaint about you”.
This is the kind of reporters we allow in San Diego? The ones who haven’t ruffled a feather in 30 years? Specifically a political feather or a law enforcement feather. Who put the police department over the press?
I would think that it would be more beneficial to humanity if the press issued the police their badges after years of no fuck ups. Until receiving their badges they would be known simply as sidekicks.
Now I know this is not a new issue, and the City Beat, the San Diego City Transcript, and the San Diego Reader have spilled some ink in this direction and maybe it’s only of interest if you’re one of SDPD’s rejects, but people, this is the freedom of the press.
The San Diego Police can (and do) hand pick anyone that will be allowed into a press conference, a crime scene or a fire. They don’t want certain brands of shit-stirring reporters to actually see what is going on.
I would rather see Parks and Recreation issuing the press passes or the building department or anybody other that the SDPD. The cops have an axe to grind and they grind it loudly when anyone approaches who they do not like.
Is this what you want? You want your reporters to be approved by the San Diego Police (no English test required)?
People, we are living in Alice’s Wonder mirror. Everything is upside down and backwards. This is George Orwell Brave New Bullshit. OK, it’s not the end of the world, but damn; every time you turn your head they tighten down the screws.
What to do? What to do?
Well, I don’t think I could get much of a turn out for a protest march. And the Major’s Office seems to be busy with more urgent matters.
Sometimes it seems that old people are running the world and will continue to do so without end. And not the good old wise old people. The power hungry old people like Dr. Evil.
Anybody got any ideas?
Source
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I’m thinking nothing can be done about it, except to write about it.
And you do that very well, Tom Hunter.
I think the problem is the press pass itself. If no one can agree that
there’s any better authority than the PD (think about handing the
licensing of your journalist self to the elephant, the donkey, the
neighbor who plays metal rock, the President of the U.S. who listens
to your phone calls, for that matter) than we can print our own. If
they’re not accepted by the PD at some scene where we want to get
through the bodyguards or police tape, then write about THAT.
Write about the bodyguards and the police. There’ll be plenty to write
and plenty of people who’ll want to read the writing.
“Official” press passes are issued by police departments in many cities. It is because working press needed to show police who they are in order to get into crime and disaster scenes. Lately, many PDs are using the confiscation and nenial of press passes as a tool to keep reporters in line. Thankfully, it’s not working and often backfires on the coppers.
Today, however, with so many citizen journalists — and so many of them/us being unlawfully targeted and attacked by police — those “official” press passes are worth much less than they used to be.