A NEW YORK FOURTH: ACCESS ISN'T EVERYTHING
July 4th was a veritable feast of photo
opportunities but it was no picnic in terms of official access to this
year's Presidential Military review and OpSail.
Not so for Big News Events like papal or
presidential visits, when presidential safety and the threat of terrorism
far outweigh my rights and privileges as a news photographer wearing the
letter "F" for freelance. In these cases, my NYC press pass doesn't
pass muster without the Big Event
During the Papal visit to NY in 1995, I
had credentials through the weekly Riverdale Press, for the Central Park
and Meadowlands. We were refused credentials for St. Joseph's Seminary
although it was in our coverage area and we had a local angle. While
covering the Meadowlands, I was ejected from the stadium for standing in
an area for which I was not color-coded.
What we had in New York this past July 4th, was a promise of tall ships and spectacular vistas. In reality the hundreds of tall ships turned out to be only a handful that bothered to make their way past 79th street, leaving thousands of disappointed New Yorkers north of 79th Street on the Hudson River side of our island. Butdepending on where you were in Manhattan, there was plenty going on. There were sailors and street fairs, flags and fireworks. We even had cows dressed for the occasion. I may not have been able to sit at the
head table, but I consoled myself with the fact that I had photographed
some of the spirit of the day around town, even without the Big Event Credential.
Imagine then, my chagrin when, a few days later I was in Staples and some
guy was making color copies of pictures of himself with the President.
"How did you get aboard the Kennedy?" I
Just goes to show you there are more ways than one to get a picture! Susan B. Markisz
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I
had been taking pictures along with dozens of non-credentialed "faithful"
with their point-and-shoots, underneath the center scaffolding area, above
which was reserved for the wire services and the larger publications.
In an ecumenical spirit, everyone took turns getting a front-and -center
view of the Pope, only yards away, through a tiny opening in scaffolding,
while the platform above shielded us from the drenching rain. Although
we were interfering with no one standing on the scaffolding above us, one
press photographer, who was more interested in assuring his exclusivity
than shooting, continually demanded to see our press credentials, to ensure
we weren't encroaching on his territory. Shortly after I left the
venue, the director of papal security approached me and physically removed
me from the stadium although he had not caught me "in flagrante delicto."
When I asked him what I had done, he said: "You KNOW what you did.
Read the back of your press card," which essentially limited my access
to the press box, way up in the rafters. I eventually managed
to talk my way back into the stadium, by telling one of the priests involved
in the incident that I didn't think this is what God OR the Pope intended.
But it left a somewhat bitter taste in my mouth as to the preferential
treatment when it comes to credentials.
But
that's water under the bridge and lessons learned. I didn't have
an invitation to the USS Kennedy this year, where President Clinton was
going to review the parade of Tall Ships. I knew that if I hoped
to get any pictures at all, I was going to battle traffic, road closures
and access limitations. The way I figured it was, I'd capture a New Yorker's
view of July 4th, and not the privileged view afforded press photographers.
