Date: Wed, 20 Mar 1996 From: Vigdor Schreibman - FINS <•••@••.•••> To: •••@••.••• Subject: FINS APPEAL SET =========================================================================== FINS SPECIAL REPORT March 20, 1996 =========================================================================== HEARING ON FINS APPEAL SET FOR MARCH 28TH Cyberspace Press Gallery Credentials to be Decided Washington, DC--A hearing will be held March 28th on an appeal filed Feb 12 by Vigdor Schreibman, editor of FINS, challenging denial of press credentials by the Executive Committee of Correspondents, according to phone notice given by David Holmes, Superintendent of the Periodical Press Galleries to Schreibman, Tues afternoon, Mar 20th. FINS will be represented in the appeal by Marc Rotenberg, esq. The controversy has sparked national media interest because Schreibman's application for Congressional press credentials was the first by a journalist from cyberspace. C-SPAN and The New York Times covered the story during February. According to the Executive Committee, Schreibman is only engaged in a "hobby" that does not qualify for press credentials. However, various information and library groups have noted the "indispensable" service that FINS provides. Moreover, the Press Galleries in Congress have become notorious, according to Assistant Senate historian Donald Ritchie, for their practice of protecting privileged news groups from outside competition. The oral history of former Senate Periodical Press Gallery Superintendent Roy McGhee, published in 1992, also reveals the shocking campaign of Press Gallery officials to fight against recognition of the First Amendment rights of reporters, despite a Supreme Court decision affirming the responsibility of Congress to abide by such fundamental rights within their proceedings. Schreibman has observed that "while members of Congress and established Journalists have prided the United States for prohibiting the licensing of reporters, the Press Galleries are practicing arbitrary control over access to government information in the halls of Congress." The issue has also sparked interest in the establishment of an "Internet Press Gallery Project," recently highlighted in the FINS Web site at the University of Maryland. =========================================================================== BECOME A MEMBER OF FINS--COLLABORATE IN ADVANCING THE GENIUS OF CYBERSPACE --------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW Personal Subscription: $2.95 a year. Receive 24 issues of your own email copy of Fins News Column, + Special Reports, + Fins Information Age Library. Payment for subscription by check or money order. Include your email address. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Federal Information News Syndicate, Vigdor Schreibman, Editor & Publisher, 18 - 9th Street NE #206, Washington, DC 20002-6042. Copyright 1995 FINS. Internet: •••@••.•••. Browse Fins Information Age Library at the inforM system of the University of Maryland. HTTP: //www.inform.umd.edu: 8080/EdRes/Topic/CompResource/CompSoc/FINS/; Gopher to inform.umd.edu: EdRes/Topic/CompResource/CompSoc/FINS/. =========================================================================== ~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~--~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~ Posted by Richard K. Moore - •••@••.••• - Wexford, Ireland Cyber-Rights: http://www.cpsr.org/cpsr/nii/cyber-rights/ ftp://www.cpsr.org/cpsr/nii/cyber-rights/library/ Cyberlib: www | ftp --> ftp://ftp.iol.ie/users/rkmoore/cyberlib/ Materials may be reposted in their _entirety_ for non-commercial use. ~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~--~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~
