'Pesky gadfly' wins rights for bloggers
Some journalists who remain independent of any newspaper, or any link to corporate media, do terrific work as bloggers.
They not only publish exclusive material that mainstream media ignores, they often refuse to stick to the so-called rules.
One classic example of the breed was featured in yesterday's Financial Times magazine.
Rafael MartÃnez Alequin proudly admits to having annoyed four successive New York City mayors with his questions.
He also campaigned successfully to ensure that bloggers can obtain city hall press passes.
Alequin, 78, has enjoyed an independent journalistic history, having launched two papers in Brooklyn before working for the New York City Free Press.
He had already upset three mayors - Ed Koch, David Dinkins and Rudy Giuliani - before he began his blog in 2000.
He told the FT's Eva Sanchis: "Mayors have retaliated against me many times in the past 22 years: they have removed me from mailing lists, taken away my parking privileges, disinvited me to their Christmas parties and even insulted me."
Now he makes a habit of annoying Michael Bloomberg, "the most arrogant mayor I have known."
He says: "For a long time Bloomberg refused to take my questions. I was also barred for a while from the press gallery. But two years ago, I won a legal victory for bloggers and they had to let me back in.
"Thanks to a federal lawsuit I filed, New York City now recognises bloggers as journalists and they can get press credentials. This is one of the biggest things that I have ever won."
He adds: "Colleagues call me pesky, a gadfly, gnat, mayor-torturer. They say my questions are pointless and disruptive, but I believe they fear being ostracised by City Hall. Because I'm not mainstream media, and not accountable to anyone but myself, I have the freedom no other reporter has at city hall."
Source: Financial Times (paywall)
No comments:
Post a Comment