Firsthand Media

Firsthand Media, reporting from NYC.
Host of the New York Mandate Podcast.

DM for licensing.

[Firsthand Media @NOYKreport]

@pmarca You’re mistaken. It has just taken some time for policies to be formulated, which is an ongoing process. See for example https://t.co/YNegBhexqC and the discussion of determinism in public health here: https://t.co/5QT2OgFNMY

[Firsthand Media @NOYKreport]

https://t.co/3VvjOKb2i7

[Firsthand Media @NOYKreport]

I wrote about the press credential rule changes @ericadamsfornyc proposed, and why they were problematic, back in January. https://t.co/44KB6IZIHG

@NYCMayor @ZohranKMamdani should not revive the Adams proposals.

[Firsthand Media @NOYKreport]

ALERT: NYC MAYOR'S OFFICE OF MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT MOVES TO LIMIT INDEPENDENT PRESS
Proposed rule changes would cut off press access to journalists whose work is not published by an approved organization, create a tiered access system, and make it easier to revoke NYC press cards.
Details: https://t.co/tr3zh9fOjW

[Nicole @nicolegelinas]

"Facts to the public." They are going to use this spectacle as an opportunity to pare down the press corps to non-point-of-view fact gatherers (fact gathering is important, and so is opinion journalism). I will pick the First Amendment and a few crazy people with press passes (and protected speech rights!) over unspecified "rules and norms" any day.

[Firsthand Media @NOYKreport]

To give you a little more information about my perspective on this, I have an NYC press card myself. I use it to report on current events in New York. I do very straight reporting, with the goal of transparently showing people current events so they can get an accurate idea of what is actually going on. I also interview people to find out what their perspectives are. (You can see the kind of reporting I do on my YouTube channel, @nycforyourself.)

I am the opposite of a viewpoint journalist. That makes people like these three murder supporters a royal pain for me, because there are so many provocateurs and ideologues out there doing independent journalism that people often assume that's what I'm doing. It makes doing straight reporting and having open conversations with people more difficult. I'm not saying there are no problems with what they're doing--I experience the problems personally.

However, I consider it more of a problem to ask the government to be the arbiter of which viewpoints journalists must hold and express to be considered "press" and therefore have press access to public events and press conferences.

[Firsthand Media @NOYKreport]

@PatsSoxFreedom @geraldposner @joel_schectman I've already addressed that. Ever hear that the Constitution isn't a suggestion? It says that on your profile. You should probably put some more thought into what it means and how it applies to real-world situations.

[Firsthand Media @NOYKreport]

To give you a little more information about my perspective on this, I have an NYC press card myself. I use it to report on current events in New York. I do very straight reporting, with the goal of transparently showing people current events so they can get an accurate idea of what is actually going on. I also interview people to find out what their perspectives are. (You can see the kind of reporting I do on my YouTube channel, @nycforyourself.)

I am the opposite of a viewpoint journalist. That makes people like these three murder supporters a royal pain for me, because there are so many provocateurs and ideologues out there doing independent journalism that people often assume that's what I'm doing. It makes doing straight reporting and having open conversations with people more difficult. I'm not saying there are no problems with what they're doing--I experience the problems personally.

However, I consider it more of a problem to ask the government to be the arbiter of which viewpoints journalists must hold and express to be considered "press" and therefore have press access to public events and press conferences.

[Firsthand Media @NOYKreport]

@PatsSoxFreedom @geraldposner @joel_schectman Really? You think a bunch of people who support genocide are in a different realm than a few people who support murder? Seems pretty similar to me.

[Firsthand Media @NOYKreport]

I think maybe you didn't read mine. The issue is that the government in New York City issues press passes, so when you ask for their press passes to be denied or revoked on the basis of their viewpoints, you are asking the government to disqualify people from being considered "press" on the basis of their expressed viewpoints. That is a First Amendment problem.

[Firsthand Media @NOYKreport]

1A protects their right to express their viewpoint. Unless they're making a direct threat against someone, it's protected speech.

New York City issues press passes. It sounds like you're suggesting the City should issue them on the basis of acceptable viewpoints being expressed by journalists, i.e., speech that is judged acceptable by the government. That's the problem.

[Firsthand Media @NOYKreport]

@PatsSoxFreedom @geraldposner @joel_schectman What is your definition of a journalist? What is your definition of the press?

[Firsthand Media @NOYKreport]

Why do I see so many politicians and even journalists responding to this by asking @NYCMayor to limit press access and none responding to the ideas these young women expressed?

Is it easier to sacrifice press freedom and just tell them to shut up than to confront the fact that political violence is increasingly popular among young people, and to present an argument against it?

[Molly Crane-Newman @molcranenewman]

The future of journalism? Credentialed members of the NYC press corps came to Luigi Mangione’s hearing today to support the defendant they’re purportedly reporting on and to promote jury nullification “to the most cucked and submissive population in all of human history”

[JB Nicholas @JasonBNicholas]

🧵1/6 The @NYCMayor is about to FAFO--about the First Amendment. He said the City made a mistake issuing press credentials to the Mangionistas, Ashley Rojas, Abril Rios and Lena Weissbrot. But taking their credentials would violate the settlement it signed with me in 2021/NYC law

[NY Teachers for Choice @teacher_choice]

Bruce Blakeman fully supports medical freedom!

@Bruce_Blakeman is running as the Republican candidate for NY Governor. I asked him his position on 3 critical issues 👇

1. Fired unvaccinated workers

2. Religious and medical exemptions to vaccination

3. The Democrats' bill to ban unvaccinated kids from all summer camps

He went 3-for-3!

#TeachersforChoice approves!!

[Firsthand Media @NOYKreport]

I find what these people said reprehensible. I am opposed to political violence--and violence in general. However, I do not see having the government limit press access according to viewpoint as a good way to address their comments.
Remember when Jewish ACLU lawyers defended the free speech rights of Nazis in Skokie? It was because they liked freedom of speech, not Nazis. This is like that.

[Firsthand Media @NOYKreport]

@geraldposner @joel_schectman The press credentials in question here are issued by the City of New York, by @MadeinNY specifically. So what you're calling for in this case is for the New York City government to be the arbiter of who is a legitimate journalist.

[Firsthand Media @NOYKreport]

@geraldposner @joel_schectman And who will decide whether a journalist's reporting is sufficiently accurate and professional to merit credentialing? The government?

[Firsthand Media @NOYKreport]

@MarioNawfal The First Amendment means something. It is not the role of the government to “vet” the press according to viewpoints.

[Freedom of the Press Foundation @FreedomofPress]

Viewpoint discrimination in deciding which journalists get access to the government is unconstitutional, whether by Trump or Mamdani.

It doesn't matter if the viewpoints are unpopular.

Objectivity is an industry norm not a prerequisite for constitutional rights.

[Firsthand Media @NOYKreport]

@CharlesFLehman @CityJournal You’re saying @CityJournal reporters can’t get press cards from @MadeinNY ? On what basis? Or do you mean something else?