-----Original Message----- From: owner-cypherpunks@cyberpass.net [mailto:owner-cypherpunks@cyberpass.net]On Behalf Of Sean Hastings Sent: Friday, March 09, 2001 2:27 PM To: Declan McCullagh; cypherpunks@Algebra.COM Cc: cypherpunks@cyberpass.net Subject: RE: DoJ subpoena guidelines for journalists
Declan,
What are the qualifications one has to meet to be considered a "member of the news media"? Does one have to work for some sort of Registered news agency, or publish in a registered periodical? I am publishing this right now, but I probably don't qualify. Why not?
Declan, as you may know, has had a helluva time getting Official Washington to recognize him and other online news outlets as 'real' media, worthy of the same media treatment and access to officials given to traditional print and broadcast reporters. There are no qualifications you need and, in the US and Canada, no licensing bureau or anything like that (thank god). If you want to report on something, you just show up, call yourself a reporter and see what the guy at the door says. At places like the White House, they'll want to see some proof that you work for an outlet that they recognize as 'real news'. The definition held by the White House gatekeepers is probably pretty restrictive. Go to the local stamp club exhibition, say you're a reporter, and they won't care if/when you've ever written something. They're just glad to have the interest. So bottom line: You can call yourself a reporter when you act like one. Some people think you gotta act like Sam Donaldson; others think you can act like Hunter S. Thompson. Better yet, more people think you can like Kevin Poulsen . . . David Akin / Senior technology reporter National Post / http://www.nationalpost.com 300-1450 Don Mills Road, Don Mills, Ontario CANADA / M3B 3R5 VOX: 416.383.2372 FAX: 416.383.2443 dakin@nationalpost.com / AIM: DavidAkin Click to add my contact info to your organizer: http://my.infotriever.com/DavidAkin