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Who Is On The Secret NYPD Press Email List?
By
Jacob Dobkin
Published Mar 29, 2012
Modified Mar 29, 2012
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By
Jacob Dobkin
Published Mar 29, 2012
Modified Mar 29, 2012
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About an hour ago, the NYPD's Department of Public Information (DCPI) accidentally CC'd their entire email list on a routine press release. Normally this list of about 230 email addresses is BCC'd. This list is very interesting, because it tells who the NYPD is informing about major crimes— a who's who list of the "credentialed" NYC media establishment.
This is not an easy list to get on. Even after we received our Press Passes, it took Gothamist more than a month of daily phone calls (and a few requests by our lawyer) before we were added. The NYPD wouldn't tell our lawyer, Norman Siegel, what the precise qualifications for being on the list were, and still hasn't— that's something Norman has been discussing with them for the last several weeks. Coincidentally, this is also the same information that we'd requested with a Freedom of Information Act request a few months ago. The NYPD said they'd let us know about that... in July. But it turns out we don't have to wait! Here is who is on the list:
1. Cops and Politicians: most of the list (55%) is NYPD officials (including many of the Blackberry and Gmail addresses of top brass.) This group also includes select political email addresses- for instance, the Mayor's office, the Office of Emergency Management, and the county District Attorneys offices.
2. Mainstream Media: newspapers and major TV and radio stations make up 30% of the list. This also includes Spanish language outlets like El Diario and Univision, and foreign outfits like Tokyo Broadcasting. Some individual reporters, like Judith Miller, are cc'd to their personal Yahoo and Hotmail accounts.
3. Community Newspapers and NFPs: this group makes up almost 14%, and includes local papers from all five boroughs as well as school newspapers and public radio.
4. New Media: there were only 3 email addresses for bloggers, internet-only outlets, and similar publications- Gothamist, Patch, and DNAInfo. Patch is owned by AOL, and DNAInfo is funded by Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts.
From a cursory inspection of the list, it appears the NYPD has not been very friendly to new media. While much of the innovation over the last 10 years in NYC journalism has taken place online, you certainly wouldn't know it from this list. So remember: the next time you ask why your favorite blog is aggregating from an MSM outlet, the answer may be that they simply do not have access to the same tools and resources as their MSM competitors. For now, Gothamist is not in that boat— at least, until DCPI sees this post.
Tagged
dcpi
media
nypd
press pass
Jacob Dobkin
Jake Dobkin co-founded Gothamist with Jen Chung. In 2019, Jake released Ask a Native New Yorker, a book based on his Gothamist advice column.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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