Several news outlets have focused on the media relations censorship or “Censorship by PIO” issue in relation to the pandemic. Below are three.
Washington Post
Washington Post Media columnist Margaret Sullivan did a piece on the PIO/media relations controls on April 18. She cites my memories reporting on agencies over the last two to three decades: “Direct contact was minimized and tightly monitored. Interviews might take place with a public-relations ‘minder’ present.”
Sullivan also quotes First Amendment attorney Frank LoMonte asserting, “There’s a widespread misperception that you check all your free-speech rights at the door when you take a job,” speaking of both government and private corporations.
Columbia Journalism Review
A Columbia Journalism Review article connects the long history of these controls with current circumstances, with among other things, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention being terrifyingly absent from public view.
“Ultimately, the concern is the public’s ability to understand exactly where information is coming from and to judge its accuracy themselves, a process in which the media is intrinsically involved,” the article by Cinnamon Janzer says.
A side note: in the article the former CDC media person (1999-2013), Glen Nowak, indicates that during his tenure, in the absence of a public directory it was difficult for journalists to identify who in the agency to talk to.
He does not mention that going through the media relations office was forced on reporters, even when we were very versed in who we needed to talk to.
In addition, for years CDC had a 100-page directory of experts, listed by alphabetical order of expertise, with direct phone numbers and building locations. They handed it out to reporters.
I have a 1985 copy.
Clearing the FOG
“Clearing the FOG” radio producers interviewed me on the PIO/media relations controls. It aired on WBAI in early April. Available on podcast.
Here’s part of one of my responses: “The idea that without this access it’s harder to do ethical journalism is a point that I’m pushing right now very hard. Journalists talk about this a great deal among themselves. And that includes journalists from the most prominent news organizations. We’ve had whole sessions on it in journalism organizations, in journalism meetings. But somehow or other we don’t tell the public in any big way. Why is that? Maybe it’s because we don’t want to tarnish our own brand….We look at it as a problem and as an irritant to our work, but we can’t bring ourselves to even admit among ourselves that this is keeping stuff from us and from the public.”
Washington Post
Washington Post Media columnist Margaret Sullivan did a piece on the PIO/media relations controls on April 18. She cites my memories reporting on agencies over the last two to three decades: “Direct contact was minimized and tightly monitored. Interviews might take place with a public-relations ‘minder’ present.”
Sullivan also quotes First Amendment attorney Frank LoMonte asserting, “There’s a widespread misperception that you check all your free-speech rights at the door when you take a job,” speaking of both government and private corporations.
Columbia Journalism Review
A Columbia Journalism Review article connects the long history of these controls with current circumstances, with among other things, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention being terrifyingly absent from public view.
“Ultimately, the concern is the public’s ability to understand exactly where information is coming from and to judge its accuracy themselves, a process in which the media is intrinsically involved,” the article by Cinnamon Janzer says.
A side note: in the article the former CDC media person (1999-2013), Glen Nowak, indicates that during his tenure, in the absence of a public directory it was difficult for journalists to identify who in the agency to talk to.
He does not mention that going through the media relations office was forced on reporters, even when we were very versed in who we needed to talk to.
In addition, for years CDC had a 100-page directory of experts, listed by alphabetical order of expertise, with direct phone numbers and building locations. They handed it out to reporters.
I have a 1985 copy.
Clearing the FOG
“Clearing the FOG” radio producers interviewed me on the PIO/media relations controls. It aired on WBAI in early April. Available on podcast.
Here’s part of one of my responses: “The idea that without this access it’s harder to do ethical journalism is a point that I’m pushing right now very hard. Journalists talk about this a great deal among themselves. And that includes journalists from the most prominent news organizations. We’ve had whole sessions on it in journalism organizations, in journalism meetings. But somehow or other we don’t tell the public in any big way. Why is that? Maybe it’s because we don’t want to tarnish our own brand….We look at it as a problem and as an irritant to our work, but we can’t bring ourselves to even admit among ourselves that this is keeping stuff from us and from the public.”
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