[Leica] Press access

[Yods1 <Yods1@aol.com>]

	Eric's right about journalists not having special privileges over the public
per se, but I think I should point out that in Lerserson V. San Diego, the 4th
District Court of Appeal ruled that "Journalists cannot be ordered away from a
dangerous site, or any part of it, simply for their own safety."
	But in practical terms he's right. They use that excuse all the time and
don't take no lip. Last year I was arrested in Huntington Beach for
photographing cops making an arrest. Got a tacit apology from the Chief, but
they succeeded in preventing me from covering the event, which was a real,
full-blown news thing. Not some isolated, insignificant arrest.
	If you're genuinely involved in editorial pursuits, often you can talk your
local sheriff/police/whatever into issuing you a press pass, but you might
have to do some convincing if you're with a medium they're not familiar with. 
	That will help in some pursuits, though technically Joe Citizen should be
able to enjoy all the privileges of the press. Including photographing people
in public places. And you don't need permission or a signed release of any
kind unless you use it for commercial pursuits. That news organizations are
also businesses is an area the courts have seldom addressed, though I could
see it coming into play before long now that the media has pretty much
abandoned pretenses of acting with the good of the public at heart. So much of
the stuff that used to be news is now presented in entertainment format that
you could almost consider the public unpaid actors and extras.
	That's a bit of an exaggeration of course but editorially speaking, anything
in the public realm is fair game, at the moment. 
	I wonder if television in Quebec will be held to the same standards as
newspapers and magazines--as usual, I doubt it.
	Dave Y.