We’ve got to keep the Capitol press corps in Texas liberal and as protectors of the ruling-class establishment – so seems the goal of Texas House Speaker Joe Straus. Speaker Straus told the Texas Tribune that he desires the help of the old legacy press corps, through their press associations and the like, to decide who is really a journalist in the state.
“I do know what I would like to see happen and I would like for the press association or the whatever organization is out there of media members to kind of maybe self-describe what’s legitimate and what’s not,” said Speaker Straus about who should have floor access to keep watch on our state government.
“Handing credentialing over to a press committee helps elected officials dodge liability. Press committees, however, are made up mostly of mainstream reporters comfortable with the magazines and alt weeklies that have been telling compelling and factual stories from left of center and much less so with the same kind of reporting and storytelling from the right,” wrote investigative journalist Jon Cassidy of Watchdog.org.
The First Amendment makes clear that there is to be no abridgement of the freedom of the press and it doesn’t specify if the press had to be a big mechanical one in Philadelphia owned by Ben Franklin or a hand copied news sheet in some tiny hamlet of South Carolina to be read by only a few.
I’m not aware of big swell in the numbers of reporters seeking Capitol credentials which allow House floor access. And, the insiders have never had a problem with openly Leftwing press outlets such as the Texas Observer having press credentials but, they do have a problem with decidedly conservative-leaning press outlets having access. Hence the new push by Speaker Straus to find a way to refuse credentialing of reporters of a conservative-bent.
Just remember what the Society of Professional Journalists said in a legal brief: When “a government official denies a reporter a press pass because of something he or she has published, the denial is presumptively unconstitutional. However, government officials are unlikely to expressly state that they are withholding a credential for this reason.”
Speaker Straus should be ashamed of his position that some press coverage is more “legitimate” than other coverage. The First Amendment makes clear that there is to be no abridgement of the freedom of the press and it doesn’t specify if the press had to be a big mechanical one in Philadelphia owned by Ben Franklin or a hand copied news sheet in some tiny hamlet of South Carolina to be read by only a few.
Speaker Straus wants decision on what is “legitimate” press
Robert Pratt
We’ve got to keep the Capitol press corps in Texas liberal and as protectors of the ruling-class establishment – so seems the goal of Texas House Speaker Joe Straus. Speaker Straus told the Texas Tribune that he desires the help of the old legacy press corps, through their press associations and the like, to decide who is really a journalist in the state.
“I do know what I would like to see happen and I would like for the press association or the whatever organization is out there of media members to kind of maybe self-describe what’s legitimate and what’s not,” said Speaker Straus about who should have floor access to keep watch on our state government.
“Handing credentialing over to a press committee helps elected officials dodge liability. Press committees, however, are made up mostly of mainstream reporters comfortable with the magazines and alt weeklies that have been telling compelling and factual stories from left of center and much less so with the same kind of reporting and storytelling from the right,” wrote investigative journalist Jon Cassidy of Watchdog.org.
The First Amendment makes clear that there is to be no abridgement of the freedom of the press and it doesn’t specify if the press had to be a big mechanical one in Philadelphia owned by Ben Franklin or a hand copied news sheet in some tiny hamlet of South Carolina to be read by only a few.
I’m not aware of big swell in the numbers of reporters seeking Capitol credentials which allow House floor access. And, the insiders have never had a problem with openly Leftwing press outlets such as the Texas Observer having press credentials but, they do have a problem with decidedly conservative-leaning press outlets having access. Hence the new push by Speaker Straus to find a way to refuse credentialing of reporters of a conservative-bent.
Just remember what the Society of Professional Journalists said in a legal brief: When “a government official denies a reporter a press pass because of something he or she has published, the denial is presumptively unconstitutional. However, government officials are unlikely to expressly state that they are withholding a credential for this reason.”
Speaker Straus should be ashamed of his position that some press coverage is more “legitimate” than other coverage. The First Amendment makes clear that there is to be no abridgement of the freedom of the press and it doesn’t specify if the press had to be a big mechanical one in Philadelphia owned by Ben Franklin or a hand copied news sheet in some tiny hamlet of South Carolina to be read by only a few.