Useful Press ID?

Factual Questions
1

I was looking at the requirements for being considered a “journalist”, which lead me to looking at the world of press passes and press IDs.

Getting a particular pass from a police station, government body, etc. to get deeper access to their materials seems fairly straightforward.

And if you’re employed by a traditional news source - CNN, WSJ, etc. - I’m sure that it helps to have something that identifies you as one of their journalists.

Is there any value to the IDs being issued to freelancers by random groups like the National Writers Union, US Press Association, etc.? Are there any that do enough due diligence on the requester that someone would take the badge seriously? Or is it basically a scam to get cash off crazies on the internet who want to be able to call themselves First Amendment Warriors?

2

Back a long time ago I had a legit press pass from the old LA Herald Examiner (I was a circulation manager), and boy that thing was like a magic key. Conventions, museums, etc, just wave the pass and I was in. That was the accepted practice back then, but it would be considered somewhat unethical now. That pass was taken very seriously. (I was told to not use it to get out of tickets unless “on duty”, that was about it- and of course it would not always work for that, not that I tried).

You can (or could) get a INS press pass from the interwebs- Kolchaks employer. To be used for a prop or costume item, of course.