Credentialing of media

It doesn’t surprise me at all that the left wants to capitalize on their newfound advantage in Congress and the White House. I expect them to make their best efforts to pack the supreme courts, raise taxes, loosen the borders and pass restrictive gun legislation. No surprises there.

What did surprise me this week was our Editor, Mr. Crosby shared a release from the Pete Ricketts administration regarding an application for media “credentialing.” An Associated Press article on the move reads, “News outlets that want to attend Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts’ press conferences will have to answer detailed questions about their business model and submit a notarized letter from a manager before they’ll be given access to ask questions under a new policy the governor’s office unveiled Thursday.”

Many years ago when I was active in the county party, well before he became Communications Director for the Governor, Taylor Gage ventured out to Red Willow County to visit us. I knew him to be a good guy, so I put in a note for clarification. He answered as follows: “This certification is generally used for Governor’s Office media briefings and certain other media events. The Governor’s events like Rotary club visits, tours, town halls, etc. do not require a credential.”

That’s a non-answer answer, but I kind of get it. I try to see both sides of an argument. We live in a new world where any political activist who has a website or a blog can call themselves a journalist.

I recall that when I was a Party Chair, I kept one Red Willow County Convention under the radar because we had agitators from outside of the county who would show up and make trouble.

I also held a reception for our Senior Senator, Deb Fischer at my home. Although I was a professional public relations guy at the time and had the knowledge and means to publicize it broadly, I kept it on an invitation-only basis. The turn-out was dismal, and I regret that. Now knowing Senator Fischer as I do, she’s tougher than a three-dollar steak and would have made short work of the clowns. She didn’t need me to protect her.

The restriction of media access is at least an irritant, if not an outright violation of our first amendment rights. If there are security concerns, I can understand that, but they are picking winners and losers. That’s not how the system is supposed to work. The Associated Press article cites a news source that is considerably to the left of me, but that shouldn’t matter.

I would gently urge Governor Ricketts and Mr. Gage to not join the likes of Xi Jinping, Raul Castro and Kim Jong un.