The generic PRESS is dubious most of the time. Also, even the son of the son of the son of a retired military guy would write ARMY on the rear glass
. Cops nowadays don't give a hoot to the generic PRESS sticker anyway. The genuine ones would always carry the company logo. In all the organisations I have worked with, we got the company logo press sticker after we submitted a copy of the RC to the HR (I work with a newspaper). The HR keeps a record of the stickers issued, how many and to whom. And the stickers are only meant for editorial people -- not marketing, circulation or sales, though these guys are the ones who often misuse the stickers. The HR won't give the sticker to you if your name is not on the RC that you submitted, even if the vehicle belongs to an immediate family member.
The point of the company issued sticker, among other things, is to enable the vehicle to get into a crowded place where a news event is happening with minimal unnecessary interference. But of course it is not a licence to break traffic rules. For example, the only factor I had in mind while buying the Alto 800 was to navigate in crowd, enter and exit from dharnas and such events easily with little tension for parking. Using the company sticker, I have managed to cut down my office-to-venue reaction time by cutting through crowds near Jantar Mantar and Ramlila Maidan. Those at the venue usually give way when they see press sticker because they themselves want the media to be present since they are the ones who will get publicity.
But sometimes the sticker also works the other way round. Those who want to attack the press will identify you immediately and your vehicle is done for
In 2010 when I was in Bangalore -- our office was near Church Street -- our crime reporter's Swift was burnt by a mob when he had gone to cover a political rally.
One more incident involving a press sticker happened in Jan 2014. A bank van was robbed bollywood style at Delhi's Defence Colony amid gunfight in broad daylight. The car used by the accused, WagonR, had a company issued press sticker. Police tracked the owner, who turned out a person whose car had got stolen some days ago, and he had already filed a complaint over that. The guy was the junior level marketing chap of the media company whose sticker was found in the car. So, the thing came down to how did marketing guy got press sticker when his job doesn't involve any editorial work? He apparently used his friend in the HR to issue one to him. He was sacked. He misused the sticker for ego inflation and paid for it.
In a nutshell, those bikes and cars we come across with the red colour tape generic press stickers are usually fakes. Some may be genuine, but I don't understand how difficult it is to get the company one from the HR if somebody is with editorial. It's laziness. Lastly, a good use of press sticker is to intimidate autowallahs who jump red light or come from wrong side. That I do frequently around Sarojini Nagar and Jhandewalan.