It could get easier for press passes to get revoked

New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin is backing a new bill aimed at reforming the press credentialing process, potentially making it easier for the city to suspend or revoke press passes and directing Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration to review its current practices. 

“Press credentials are essential tools for journalists,” Menin said in a statement. “For this system to work as intended, there must be a thoughtful process for issuing credentials and, when necessary, revoking them. We’re committed to ensuring a process that balances real logistical, safety, and journalistic concerns. Our only goal here is to help journalists do their critical work, in good times and bad.”

The bill is set to be introduced Thursday, with Council Member Chris Banks as the lead sponsor. It comes several months after the uproar over three press-pass-clad supporters of Luigi Mangione cheering his murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Mamdani condemned their remarks at the time, said the individuals never should have received credentials and announced the launch of an internal review of the city’s credentialing process and standards. 

While debates over who should and shouldn’t have access to an official city-issued press pass have long raged within the industry, the mayor’s embrace of influencers and content creators as a form of “new media” has further sparked conversation. The city’s review of its press credentialing process is still underway, according to Dora Pekec, a spokesperson for the mayor.

Press passes are not licenses to report – journalists can work without them – but they’re meant to grant access past police lines and can ease entry to government buildings like City Hall. 

Press credentialing in New York City is currently overseen by the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, which Menin used to lead under former Mayor Bill de Blasio. The agency took the credentialing process over from the New York City Police Department in 2022 over concerns about whether police should control reporters' access in wake of protests over the murder of George Floyd. 

But the City Council’s legislation takes aim specifically at the city’s ability to revoke or suspend press passes – not on how they are issued. The bill would lower the burden of proof required to suspend or revoke press credentials, loosening the language from the current need for “clear and convincing evidence” to “a preponderance of the evidence, according to a copy of the legislation shared with City & State ahead of its introduction.

It’s unclear how effective this would ultimately be. Revoking and suspension is notoriously complicated. Under the city’s policy, no agency, including the NYPD, can revoke or seize a press pass until the city’s Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings holds a trial and determines such a punishment is proper. And the bar for both revocation and suspension is extremely high, with criteria like engaging in conduct that involves an "unreasonable risk to property or to the safety or welfare of specific individuals or the public” or committing a crime. 

Additionally, the legislation would direct the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment to review its rules regarding the issuance, suspension and revocation of press credentials. 

The mayor will review the bill, but has yet to take a position, according to Pekec.