After a long saga and multiple lawsuits, City Hall has officially proposed new rules for issuing press passes to members of the NYC media, even those whose work appears only on the Internet. According to the NYC Law Department, the rules would be implemented to help the Police Department "modernize the City’s credentialing system to reflect changes to the media industry and, for the first time, expressly incorporate online-only media such as blogs." Gothamist has tried to obtain press passes for almost six years; besides allowing journalists to report during emergencies, the credentials greatly facilitate attending non-emergency events like mayoral press conferences. more ›

Long-time readers of Gothamist may remember that we've applied for NYPD press passes a couple of times, and have gotten denied. The explanation we were given was that the NYPD only credentials traditional media— radio, print, and television— and that online reportage simply did not qualify. So it was with great interest that we attended today's public discussion of "Rules for City Issued Press Credentials" at New York Law School. more ›