02/09/1998 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINNEAPOLIS JOINT PUBLIC INFORMATION COMMITTEE December 24, 1997 Dear News Director or Managing Editor: Access to a crime scene or a disaster area, in addition to information from a key spokesperson, is critical to news organizations regardless of market size. In an effort to improve communication and cooperation among public information officers, a group of public information professionals has been meeting the past several years to discuss those issues. The group, the Minneapolis Joint Public Information Committee, represents county, local and state law enforcement agencies, hospitals and volunteer organizations, in addition to municipal and county government officials. One of the top priorities of the group is to develop policies and guidelines for working with the media in the event of a multi jurisdictional critical incident or disaster. The group also calls upon media professionals to provide input into developing these guidelines. We know serving the public is a high priority for you; it's our priority too. Individually, our agencies have enjoyed a good working relationship and spirit of cooperation in the past. We also rely on your efforts to share important information to your readers, listeners and viewers, especially when information critical to public safety must be disseminated. Recent group discussions have centered around the need for media credentials at public safety or critical incident scenes. We believe that better identification of news reporters and photojournalists would improve your news gathering capability by expediting access to the designated public information officer, and the scene itself. The media is generally provided priority access to areas not open to the general public; therefore, it is important to ensure that only credentialed media are provided access into those areas. Emergency personnel must also be able to quickly identify media representatives in the event that the safety of responders and/or news media may become an issue in a potentially hazardous situation such as a chemical spill. Visible media credentials would help accomplish that goal. As a result, we are asking for your cooperation regarding efforts to improve the identification of news reporters, photojournalists and technicians. This request is that all media professionals display a picture ID at any crime scene, emergency scene or public safety incident. The ID should be issued by the media organization and include the person's name. The photo ID should be worn on the outside of clothing and not be kept in a pocket, wallet or purse. Beginning immediately, personnel from several county, state and municipal public safety agencies will ask the professional media to display these credentials. Access to certain areas, such as a command center or priority access area, may be denied to those who are not wearing a photo ID. We urge media organizations to cooperate with public safety personnel in implementing these procedures. This request is designed to balance your need for information with our need to maintain the integrity of our emergency response efforts. This effort should work to the mutual benefit and safety of everyone concerned.