Gov. Ricketts responds to column

Dear Editor,

I write to you regarding Mike O’Dell’s column dated April 23, 2021.

The Governor’s Office has long enjoyed a collegial and transparent relationship with media organizations across Nebraska.

The pandemic over the last year provided members of the press with unprecedented, direct access to the Governor and his team. At one point, the Governor hosted seven media briefings a week for up to an hour each to provide factual information about the pandemic to the public and to answer questions from members of the press. For the first time, the Governor’s Office offered regular briefings in English, Spanish, and American Sign Language. In just the last year, Governor Ricketts has answered more questions from the media in person than most Governors answer in the course of an entire term in office.

Over the years, the Governor’s Office has had a very simple way of managing credentialing for media. Media members contact the Governor’s Office to request to receive notice of the Governor’s press events. Credentialing is typically required for briefings in the Governor’s Hearing Room at the State Capitol and other limited opportunities.

Recently, new organizations laying claim to be media have begun to contact the Governor’s Office. This triggered a review of our previous process for credentialing media outlets, and a review of other branches of government. Nebraska’s Unicameral Legislature and the Nebraska Supreme Court have developed systems for credentialing media. Additionally, the editorial pages of the Omaha World-Herald and Lincoln Journal-Star called on the Governor’s Office to establish clear criteria for how media organizations are credentialed.

As the Governor’s Office developed the media credentialing application we recently published, we also drew on credentialing criteria and systems used by the Wisconsin Governor’s Office, the Texas Legislature, and the U.S. Congress.

The Governor’s Office firmly believes the application and criteria that were recently published reflect a neutral and fair approach to qualifying media organizations to cover credentialed press events. We believe that transparency and media access are critical to the functioning of the State of Nebraska’s government. To that end, we will continue to ensure that timely and accurate information is provided to the public.

More information about media credentialing for the Governor’s Office can be found at https://governor.nebraska.gov/media-credentialing.

Best,

Taylor Gage

Director of Strategic Communications

Office of Governor Pete Ricketts