By Joan Stewart

If you’re a freeloader with a fake press pass, don’t even think of trying to sneak by Lori Weintraub, APR.

After more than a decade managing PR for the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation in Hollywood, Florida, she’s turned into a grizzled gate-keeper at the foundation’s glitzy special events, always on the lookout for moochers posing as journalists.

Weintraub learned how to spot a fake years ago. A man and woman pretending to be from the media got into the Feast Among the Grapes, the foundation’s annual food and wine tasting fund-raiser in Miami that attracts up to 1,400 people. Each arrived separately and presented credentials for what turned out to be two phony media outlets. Once inside, they joined up and enjoyed the rest of the night eating and drinking at one of the hippest happy hours in town, never intending to write about it.

“We didn’t realize it until after it had occurred,” she said. “You definitely live and learn.”

Then there was the couple claiming to be from Black Entertainment Radio in New York that showed up to “cover” an event sans camera or notebook. She turned them away. And the guy with a phony press pass who was able to sneak by the registration table at Feast Among the Grapes? He was eventually discovered and escorted to the door by security.

“Now we have a media list,” Weintraub said. “Anyone who wants to cover an event has to get clearance beforehand. If they’re not on the list, they’re not allowed in. I’ve turned away more people than I can count.”

Fake press passes abound at restaurant and theater openings, sporting events, music festivals, political rallies, celebrity parties and even crime scenes. With a decent computer and color printer, almost anybody can crank out an official-looking pass within minutes. 

If that sounds like too much work, you can claim to be a freelancer and, for $85, become a member of a group calling itself the National Press Association. Within 72 hours of paying your membership fee at NationalPressAssociation.org, the NPA will rush you your press pass with neck band, a wallet card, a membership certificate, and even a rear view press identification decal. But when you apply, you don’t have to present any supporting materials to show that you’ve written or sold any articles.

Spotting the phonies is particularly difficult on today’s media landscape where freelancers abound and even bloggers are asking for the same preferential treatment as traditional media.

Regardless of what business you’re in, if the media cover your event—particularly if you’re serving great food and featuring big-name entertainment—you need to know how to deal with the gate-crashers.

Or, in some cases, the wolves in sheep’s clothing.

Janet Perrella-D’Alesandro, director of public relations and association marketing for Anthony J. Jannetti, Inc. in Pitman, New Jersey, says not so long ago, reporters and editors who worked for another publisher tried to obtain press passes for a medical conference her company hosted, with the intention of exploiting intellectual property.

“In these cases, which we caught in advance after some research, the editor was forming his or her own competing publication in the specialty,” she said. “I can’t help but be disillusioned.”

Experts offer these tips for making sure that media entering your event are who they claim:

• Always insist that, well before the event, the media apply for press credentials that you issue. Otherwise there’s no surefire way to spot a fake. Once you have a list of credentialed media, use it at check-in.  
  
   
• Be vigilant about your due diligence. Ask freelance writers and photographers for their website URL, and copies of published articles or photos on specific topics. At the giant BookExpo convention held each year, freelancers applying for press passes must show clippings of articles or reviews they have written specifically about books or the publishing industry.
  
   
• If you’re in the travel and hospitality industry and you host familiarization trips, you can insist that freelancers must be members of the Midwest Travel Writers Association or the Society of American Travel Writers. If you’re suspicious, post questions at your industry’s Internet discussion boards and ask your colleagues for feedback on a particular freelancer.   
  
   
• Staff the sign-in table at your events with seasoned pros, not administrative assistants. The veterans are usually able to recognize bona fide media.
   
• If bloggers want press credentials, read their blogs
   

Peter Himler, principal with Flatiron Communications LLC and a blogger, says certain blogs have the capacity to drive national and global awareness online. “Others are negligible in terms of their influence,” he said. “Today’s PR pro must know which are which.”

Himler says there’s one more way to spot a phony media person.

“He or she is typically the first one to the shrimp bowl.”

(This article originally appeared in PR Tactics.)

Joan Stewart, a.k.a. the Publicity Hound and a former newspaper editor, publishes “The Publicity Hound’s Tips of the Week,” a free ezine on how to generate publicity. Subscribe at her website at www.PublicityHound.com or visit her blog at www.PublicityHound.net.    

Direct comments or questions about this article, including requests for reprint rights, to:

Joan Stewart
The Publicity Hound
3434 County KK
Port Washington, WI 53074
Phone: 262-284-7451
JStewart@PublicityHound.com