Over three dozen journalism
organizations have asked the president to drop the “excessive
controls” on public information by federal agencies, branding it
“politically driven suppression of news and information about federal
agencies.”
According to broadcastingcable.com, a
letter to President Obama from the Radio Television Digital News Association,
National Press Foundation, the Society of Professional Journalists and others
follows ongoing tension between broadcast, print and online journalists and the
Obama administration. Journalists complain that the administration has limited
access to events, while providing its own “coverage” through official
channels.
In the a letter to President Obama,
the groups complained about policies that require journalists to go through
public information officers (PIOs) before talking with staff and that have PIOs
vetting interview questions and monitoring interviews with sources. “You
recently expressed concern that frustration in the country is breeding cynicism
about democratic government,” the letter began. “You need look no
further than your own administration for a major source of that frustration –
politically driven suppression of news and information about federal agencies.
We call on you to take a stand to stop the spin and let the sunshine in.”
The organizations cited “federal
agencies blackballing reporters who write critically of them” and they
offered numerous specific examples.