A setback for a free press

paulwiggins · **Posted:** Wed Nov 19, 2003 9:53 pm

US Visa Warning for Australians - Thinking of travelling to the US for business or pleasure? Be aware that the US is stringently enforcing visa requirements for media representatives, which forbids them working if on a tourist visa and requires every travelling journalist to carry their visa at all times, even if on holiday. Currently media is the only industry requiring a formal entry permit into the US and many journalists have been blocked from entering the US because for failing to observe these requirements.even if on holidayeven if on holiday

Rio · **Posted:** Thu Nov 20, 2003 1:11 am

Maybe I'm missing something. How is being forbidden to work on a tourist visa, or any of this, "a setback for a free press"?[ November 20, 2003: Message edited by: Gary Kirchherr ]

ADKbrown · **Posted:** Thu Nov 20, 2003 10:16 am

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by Gary Kirchherr:
Maybe I'm missing something. How is being forbidden to work on a tourist visa, or any of this, "a setback for a free press"?[ November 20, 2003: Message edited by: Gary Kirchherr ]<hr></blockquote>It bothers me if they single out journalists for special restrictions and forbid them to work at all if in the country on a tourist visa.

Rio · **Posted:** Thu Nov 20, 2003 12:46 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by ADKbrown:
It bothers me if they single out journalists for special restrictions and forbid them to work at all if in the country on a tourist visa.<hr></blockquote>The United States forbids everyone, not just journalists, from working with only a tourist visa. So does every other country. This is a nonissue.[ November 20, 2003: Message edited by: Gary Kirchherr ]

ADKbrown · **Posted:** Thu Nov 20, 2003 2:43 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by Gary Kirchherr:
The United States forbids everyone, not just journalists, from working with only a tourist visa. So does every other country. This is a nonissue.[ November 20, 2003: Message edited by: Gary Kirchherr ]<hr></blockquote>I didn't know that. The original post suggested the rules were stricter for journalists. That would disturb me. Just curious: If a foreign journalist is on vacation in the U.S. and a big story breaks nearby, can't he file a story home?

KfitzR · **Posted:** Thu Nov 20, 2003 4:28 pm

Or get home and file a travel piece?

dmfugitive · **Posted:** Thu Nov 20, 2003 5:51 pm

I'm hardly an apologist for the government, and I'm sure that this power, like all government power, is abused daily. But requiring work visas -- and requiring journalists to carry them -- is a way of ensuring that people who claim to be journalists have proof of such. So that when Al-Qaeda Harry is caught sniffing around a chemical plant, or whatever, he can't just say, "Oh, well, I'm a journalist. May I go now?"

paulwiggins · **Posted:** Sun Nov 23, 2003 7:38 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr> Just curious: If a foreign journalist is on vacation in the U.S. and a big story breaks nearby, can't he file a story home?
<hr></blockquote>
That seems to be the case, even with a small story. Even if I go to the US on holiday would still be news gathering - the nub of the matter as opposed to Green Card issues. For an overzealous interpretation of the law see New Idea Editor Deported from the United States.
For a piece of Australian idiocy see New Zealand Prime Minister frisked for explosives at Sydney Airport[ November 23, 2003: Message edited by: Paul Wiggins ]

paulwiggins · **Posted:** Sun Nov 23, 2003 7:46 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>. But requiring work visas -- and requiring journalists to carry them -- is a way of ensuring that people who claim to be journalists have proof of such. QB]<hr></blockquote>That is why we have professional accreditation .

paulwiggins · **Posted:** Mon Nov 24, 2003 7:00 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by dmfugitive:
. So that when Al-Qaeda Harry is caught sniffing around a chemical plant, or whatever, he can't just say, "Oh, well, I'm a journalist. May I go now?"<hr></blockquote>Life imitates hypothesis .... (from this morning's issue of our paper) A school assignment sparked fears of a terrorist attack at the Caltex refinery at Kurnell on Sunday.
A security guard phoned police after a car pulled up near the refinery and an occupant started snapping away with a camera.
Police traced the vehicle to an address at Hurstville and interviewed the owner, who said he was helping out his niece with her school photography assignment.

gullyj · **Posted:** Tue Nov 25, 2003 12:28 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by dmfugitive:
I'm hardly an apologist for the government, and I'm sure that this power, like all government power, is abused daily. But requiring work visas -- and requiring journalists to carry them -- is a way of ensuring that people who claim to be journalists have proof of such. ..."<hr></blockquote>One of the reasons reporters require "special consideration" is because of the nature of the work. The Toronto Star's Washington-based reporter has a work visa, naturally, since it is a full-time post but spot news coverage is a whole different thing. The need for speed is the reason why newspapers should not be required to apply for work visas on behalf of reporters racing to a state-side assignment, like the horde from the Star that dashed for the border to cover 9/11. As a reporter, I had numerous assignments in the U.S. and never encountered any trouble with customs or INS and I was always honest about where I was going and why. To this day, I know of no Canadian reporter who has had a problem entering the U.S. to cover news.

paulwiggins · **Posted:** Wed Mar 31, 2004 12:14 am

I've just seen one of these new-fangled I-visas, which take about three hours at the US consulate to get. It's such an impressive piece of documentation it's probaby going to assist people in their task, rather than hinder them. It's just a shame that the change in requirements weren't marketed better.

paulwiggins · **Posted:** Thu May 20, 2004 11:18 pm

An update. The Americsn Society of News Editors is not impressed.

davidb666 · **Posted:** Fri May 21, 2004 8:29 am

Surely there must be fields other than journalism in which cross-border work trips on short notice are common. I wonder what the practice has been, and is, for those? For example, I wonder what happens when, say, a Toyota engineer is sent to an American plant for an emergency fix? Are they allowed to enter on a tourist visa?

car copy · **Posted:** Mon May 24, 2004 2:22 pm

What about race car drivers? Like all the Europeans in Formula One when they come here for the U.S. Grand Prix at Indianapolis? On some type of temporary work visa? They're not here working for U.S. employers.

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