Journalism Group Calls on Administration To End Speech Restrictions, Old and New

The following was released by the D.C. Chapter of the Society of  Professional Journalists  yesterday:

According to news reports the administration has tightened controls on government health officials and scientists in terms of all statements and public appearances about the Corona COVID-19.

The D.C. Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) warns that such control over the communication of health officials and scientists to the journalists is dangerous and damaging to the public's understanding of the coronavirus situation, as well as most other issues.

The chapter, representing many decades of reporting experience, emphasizes to policymakers that critical understanding often is only uncovered or pulled together when the journalists can talk to people without oversight and when they can talk in confidence to experts, if necessary.

We appreciate the need, at times, for leaders to designate particular persons or arenas as the source of the official story. However, silencing or hampering other flows of expression only ensures that all of us, including the leaders, are in the dark about many things.

We stress the current restrictions are only the latest step in a

decades-long trend to control reporting and information flow. Many

agencies and offices in the federal government and elsewhere have for years prohibited employees from speaking to the press without

 permission from the authorities, often through public information

 officers. The restrictions withhold information that belongs to the

public.

We encourage reporters to reflect this background in their coverage.

We note as salient examples of these long-standing restrictions at

the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and at the National

Institutes of Health. Staff are prohibited from speaking to reporters

without controls, and most staff can never talk to reporters.

A recent, extensive legal review concludes that the restrictions are

illegal. SPJ's press release on that, with links to the society's work

on the issue, is below [here].

The Society of Professional Journalists is the nation's most

broad-based journalism organization, dedicated to encouraging the free practice of journalism and stimulating high standards of ethical behavior.