An official with The New York Press Photographers Association (NYPPA) has asked members of the media who have experienced health problems since covering the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to contact NYPPA.
In a memo sent to all members this summer, David Handschuh, chair of NYPPA's Intergovernmental Affairs committee and photographer for The New York Daily News, said he wants to determine how many media professionals suffered health problems after the attacks. So far, he said, more than a dozen 9/11 media workers had contacted him.
The state of New York has extended the deadline to Aug. 14, 2008, for public safety workers to apply for workers' compensation due to breathing problems and other health issues suffered by recovery workers. The NYPPA is currently lobbying the state to expand the benefits coverage to apply to media personnel and freelancers as well.
Handschuh, who covered the collapse of the World Trade Center towers, is now suffering from breathing problems, and urges others who have been affected to contact him. For more information on the issue, visit the NYPPA web site at nyppa.com.