Working Media Policy

APCO invites the media to cover its proceedings as a means to generate greater public awareness of its vital work in supporting excellence in public safety communications. All media personnel (reporters, editors, photographers, producers, camera technicians and anyone assisting with media productions) must be registered conference participants and seek media credentialing from APCO International.

APCO will work to ensure that all professional development sessions may be considered on‐the‐record events, though this excludes the question and answer period. To foster a comfortable learning environment full of unscripted moments and the free exchange of ideas, representatives of the media are limited to covering all other sessions on background only. Such sessions include all professional development tracks in which the speakers have not agreed to be on the record, as well as all General Business and Membership Quorum meetings, committee and chapter activities, receptions and other events. Outside such sessions or events, media representatives are welcome to seek interviews with program leaders and other participants on the record or to obtain their explicit permission to attribute to them quotes that they previously made in sessions.

Those granted access to photograph or film events do so with the understanding that they are to focus on the session leaders and may pan the audience for general filler and not with the intent to capture people in candid or awkward moments. Anyone choosing to be a participant in such sessions is giving their permission to be photographed or filmed unless they approach crew members and explicitly request not to be a subject of the media production. Video crews using footage with an audio feed must abide by the same ground rules as noted above regarding on the record opportunities.