NYC bloggers win credentials; will press on with suit anyway

In the face of a federal lawsuit, the New York Police Department has given in and agreed to re-issue press credentials to three city bloggers, according to The New York Times.

The writers jointly filed suit in the fall after the department declined to renew their credentials, apparently because they worked for "online or nontraditional news outlets," The Times said. On Friday morning the bloggers — Rafael Martínez Alequin, David Wallis and Ralph Smith — received the courtesy press identification cards, but their lawyer Norman Siegel told the newspaper the lawsuit will go forward.

“It’s an important first step, but only a first step, because we still need to address the constitutional problem of who gets press credentials in New York City," Siegel said, according to The Times. "The Police Department should not be in the business of determining who’s a journalist.”