Press cards are an essential part of a professional journalist’s kit. They provide proof of a journalist’s legitimacy and credibility, enabling access to essential news stories and events. They also play a key safety role. Carrying a press card can prevent detention or arrest and alleviate suspicion over a journalist’s presence at an event, location or situation. They can make it safer to negotiate difficult checkpoints and can help protect a journalist’s equipment from confiscation. Without a press card, journalists can be exposed to greater risk, especially in critical situations.

But for many freelance journalists, press cards are difficult to obtain.

Freelancers who are not a member of a national union, who work internationally and who are not based in the country of their nationality can often struggle to obtain press cards, especially those who work for multiple clients. The Frontline Club Press Card will ensure that these freelance journalists are better able to secure professional accreditation.

The cards are currently available to registrants of the Frontline Freelance Register (FFR), a representative body for freelance journalists created and run by freelancers. 

All FFR registrants are professional and active journalists who abide by a recognised industry code of conduct. By doing so, they support an increasingly important but vulnerable international reporting community.

Freelancers who are not members of FFR can register their interest at:  presscards@www.beta.frontlineclub.com

In FFR’s soon to be published survey, The State of Freelancing in 2019, 60% of respondents from 70 countries confirmed that press cards are vital to their safety while working. The many comments related to press cards and safety from respondents include:

• “Security forces in Mexico repeatedly ask for press cards and it helps our safety if we have them, since they are one of the main aggressors against journalists.”
• “I am a journalist who has been working in Syria for over a year. Because of the existence of large groups with different ideologies there must be a card explaining to all of them that I am a journalist and neutral”
• “Authorities in the parts of the world where I work generally dislike journalists, but they at least understand the nature of our work. A press card is extremely necessary.”“I work in a country in which it is illegal to operate as a journalist without press accreditation and it is often necessary to show one’s press card. Journalists who are denied a press card are liable to be arrested”
• “Tense checkpoints and authorities have demanded press cards before and backed off when they were provided.”
• “A press card is helpful, particularly in tense protest/riot situations but it’s hard (and sometimes expensive) to have an up to date accreditation. No outlet I work for is willing to issue one to a freelancer.”
• “Without a press card it would be impossible to obtain the necessary permissions to work safely in a hostile environment like Iraq or Syria. More than that, it makes foreign reporters recognizable by security forces.”
• “Police, authorities, government officials and non-state actors always want to see some official documentation to identify me when I’m photographing events/people and showing them a press card lends legitimacy to why I am at a certain place at a certain time.”

Frontline Club Press Cards will only be issued to verified professional journalists. They are not part of the UK Press Authority scheme.

For further information please visit the Freelancer Hub at the Global Media Freedom Conference, Printworks, London SE16 7PJ on 10th and 11th July or contact Vaughan Smith, Founder, CEO & Trust Executive Director: vaughan.smith@www.beta.frontlineclub.com.

Endorsements

Freelance journalists are being relied upon more and more, it is imperative that they have the resources and training to protect themselves, as well as to help them get the story.

Following our event in New York with the Overseas Press Club of America (OPC), they will be coming to London to continue the discussion.

We will be bringing together a panel of freelance journalists and editors to examine what more needs to be done to make sure freelancers are supported by the news industry and have the resources available to prepare themselves for the risks of front-line reporting.

Chaired by Vaughan Smith, founder of the Frontline Club, an award-winning independent cameraman and a member of the board of representatives for the Frontline Freelance Register (FFR).

The panel:

David Williams is deputy global news editor at Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Marcus Mabry, editor at large of The New York Times and president of the Overseas Press Club of America (OPC). Previously he worked for the The New York Times and International Herald Tribune in in London and Paris, and was the associate national editor.

Ben De Pear is the editor of Channel 4 News and a member of the board of trustees for Rory Peck Trust.

Emma Beals is an independent multimedia journalist covering Syria and Iraq. She is a member of the board of representatives for the Frontline Freelance Register (FFR).

In a series of live-streamed panel discussion, freelancers and experts delivered safety tips and guides for freelancers working in conflict zones on risk assessment, communications plans and digital security.

Photo: Emma Beals (@ejbeals)

You can watch each stream again and find links to all the resources discussed here on the Frontline Freelance Register website.

The first talk, chaired by Elisabet Cantenys, Head of Programmes at the Rory Peck Trust, was between freelance journalist and filmmaker James Brabazon and Steve Cook, Director of Media Support and Operations at TYR Solutions. They discussed the benefits of risk assessments, described as “your best way of helping yourself in advance of needing assistance”.

RESOURCES:

• Risk Assessment (RPT)

The second talk on communication plans was chaired by Max Riley-Gould, a researcher and writer at the Rory Peck Trust. He spoke to James Brabazon and Emma Beals, freelance journalist and interim board member of FFR. They covered the method of drawing up a plan, and when and what should be done if you fall out of contact in a crisis.

RESOURCES:

• Creating Your Communications Plan (RPT)

In the final talk, chaired by Andrew Lyons, Digital Producer/Project Manager at the Rory Peck Trust, Kim Pham, a digital security consultant, and Runa A. Sandvik, Developer, Security Researcher, and Translation Coordinator for the Tor Project, discussed digital and mobile security. They covered the importance of learning how the technology you will be using works and understanding when you will be vulnerable as well and the tools available to protect yourself.

RESOURCES:

• Top 14 tips for secure mobile communications (Frontline Club)
• Basic Internet security (FLOSS Manuals)
• Tactical Tech (Tactical Technology Collective)
• Digital Security (RPT)
• Tor Project
• Tails
• Journalist Security Guide

We are joining forces with the Frontline Freelance Register and Rory Peck Trust to bring you a live online stream of safety tips and risk assessment. Three succinct online panel discussions will address the issues and answer questions about preparing freelancers for working in hostile environments.

The discussions will take place at the Frontline Club and will be streamed on the Frontline Freelance Register site, here. You can check out some of the Rory Peck Trust resources for freelancers that will be discussed during the streams here.

It will kick off at 2:00PM on Tuesday 22 October. You can pose questions and start your own conversations during each segment by posting to #safetystream on Twitter.

We’ll be covering:

• 2:00PM: Doing a risk assessment. We’ll get into the vital task of assessing the risks you may encounter on assignment. The Rory Peck Trust’s Risk Assessment resource can get you started.
• 2:30PM: Creating a communications plan. A rapid response is critical in a crisis situation, yet it’s often a weak spot in a freelancer’s preparations. This segment goes over what’s at stake. The Rory Peck Trust have produced a Communications Plan template that you can access now.
• 3:00PM: Digital security preparation. How you’re going to communicate securely on the ground and protect yourself digitally wraps up our sessions. We’ll be touching on topics that you can find in the Rory Peck Trust Digital Security resource.

Panelists to be confirmed.

The Syrian conflict is in its third year, and it is largely freelancers who assume the great risks in covering the events. The Frontline Club has recently launched the report Newsgathering Safety and the Welfare of Freelancers to consider how these risks can be mitigated.

Independent filmmakers, Olly Lambert and Mani, both made award winning films in Syria receiving wide acclaim for their powerful storytelling and unprecedented access. Head of High Risk for the BBC Simon Marr will also join the panel, which will be chaired by veteran journalist and filmmaker Inigo Gilmore.

This session will address the extremely treacherous challenges of filmmaking and reporting in one of the world’s deadliest places. What does the Syrian war tell us about the future of freelance journalism and independent filmmaking? How do we take necessary safety precautions – whilst managing to produce a great film?

Watch last year’s session ‘Dying to tell the Story’ with Founding Director of the Frontline Club Vaughan Smith, photographer Giles Duley and Siobhan Sinnerton, Commissioning Editor at Channel 4. Last year journalist Inigo Gilmore also chaired the debate.