I want to be able to interview some athletes (motocross riders) for a small website that my friends and I use to keep in touch. I find it hard to get in touch with them at the races and thought that maybe with a press pass they would talk to me. So my question is, How do I get a press pass?
You have to find the PR people at the particular site you’re interested in and see if they believe your story about needing a press pass.
Some people will help you out because they want the publicity, but be prepared to use a lot of B.S. to get a press pass.
You might try the Universal Life Church, which will make you an ordained minister and give you a press pass, all for the low price of $99.95.
BobT
Member
Registered: Mar 1999
Posts: 3881
You have to find the PR people at the particular site you’re interested in and see if they believe your story about needing a press pass.
BobT is issestially right, but the real secret is stationery. When I was a college student I got credentials to from Air Force base for a Blue Angels airshow, and the Secret Service for a then-presidentiall-candidate John Anderson campaign. My buddy and I wanted to use cable-access video gear and get “behind the scenes” footage, so we created a name and logo and got some letterhead printed. Once you have it, you write a request to the PR people for a specific event. Try and throw in some extremely optimistic numbers about market and audience size
You can’t get “universal” credentials that will get you in anywhere, because they are controlled by so many different interests. But if you create the organization, you can jazz up some snazzy laminated ID with the word press on it. There is no legal definition of criteria for being a member of the press, the term has been applied even to writers doing research for fiction. That’s not to say anyone will actually honor your card, but you won’t be prosecuted for using it so long as you don’t forge an ID of some legitimate company.
Whoa, whoa, whoa. There are press passes and there are press passes.
Here in NYC the NYPD issues the real deal and they are not likely going to be impressed by your letterhead that states you’re the Editor-in-Chief of the Tubthumper Weekly Gazette. An NYPD-issue press pass entitles you to cross police lines (you know, like the ones with the yellow plastic tape and such). They are very, very hard to come by, and involve doing a background check on the applicant.
Now if you want a press pass to get backstage for a David Copperfield concert or whatever, yeah, call the PR agent.
I have been a newspaperman most of my adult life. You don’t need to B.S. anyone to get press credentials. Call the people in charge and say who you are with and that you want to do an article on the individuals involved. They are generally more than willing to help you out, but be professional.
Generally I don’t even have to go through the people in charge. I have interviewed athletes in virtually every sport, politicians all the way to the top and entertainers galore.
If I were you, I would go by their location at one of the races and leave your card (you do have a card listing you as a correspondent for the website, don’t you?) with a note on the the back saying you would like to interview such and such a rider for such and such a website. Often you will be invited in right then and there. Possibly, they will call you back in a day or two for an in-person or phone interview. Once again, be professional. They aren’t crazy about fans just trying to get close to the star.
TV
TV time
Member
Registered: Jan 2001
Posts: 828
I have been a newspaperman most of my adult life. You don’t need to B.S. anyone to get press credentials. Call the people in charge and say who you are with and that you want to do an article on the individuals involved.
my point was that you can get credentials if you’re NOT with “anybody”, and you DON’T want to do an article. You want to meet some cool people, ask some bright questions, and have a good time.
TV time
An NYPD-issue press pass entitles you to cross police lines (you know, like the ones with the yellow plastic tape and such). They are very, very hard to come by, and involve doing a background check on the applicant.
True, but unless the NYPD have thrown a cordon around whatever your interested in, it won’t do you any good. So you can’t get near a plane crash in New York, but you CAN get into a celebrity press conference, or some big commercial event. Also, so long as you don’t have a criminal background or a whole lot of other activities that have brought you in touch with the authorities, don’t worry about a background check.
Also bring a camera or recorder. You might actually find yourself using the footage. I put my Blue Angels footage on local cable, so I suppose I DID act as a journalist, but I didn’t mean to when I started. And a couple of years later I was working in public radio.
Pretend to be, and you may end up being.
Thanks to everyone for their help. I guess that’s what I needed to know. I don’t want to be devious with the darn thing, I really do want to be able to post an interview.
Anyway, Thanks again!
yojimboguy, It looks like you are cutting and pasting when you want to respond to a particular post. Use the “quote” icon below each post instead. 
Back when I was freelancing for the Los Angeles Times and before I got legitimate press credentials from the CHP and the local Sheriff-Coroner’s office, I just made and laminated my own press pass.
It said PRESS in large letters, had my personal info, a signature and a photo and some sentences on the back that essentially said I promised to behave myself and follow directions from law enforcement officers on scene.
This worked fine for years. Local law enforcement officers and Secret Service agents never challenged its validity when I flashed it.
So you could go that route. But in practice, I found a press pass isn’t worth all that much.
Act like a professional, carry a reporter’s pad and a pencil and ask to speak with the ranking officer on scene. BAM, you’re past the yellow tape in a heartbeat. No pass needed.
Alternatively, if an officer has orders to keep everyone out of an area – to protect evidence or safeguard lives or whatever – that press isn’t going to impress anybody.