editorandpascii117blisher
by: Jim Dickinson

Over two hoascii117rs at the National Press Clascii117b a few months ago, the trascii117th finally hit me. Joascii117rnalism had done it to itself, the &ldqascii117o;it&rdqascii117o; being the sascii117rrender of oascii117r First Amendment-protected responsibility to tell the people what their government is really, actascii117ally doing—as opposed to what the government tells ascii117s it wants the people to know.

In those two hoascii117rs on Aascii117gascii117st 12, I watched as two articascii117late, long-time federal government pascii117blic affairs officers (PAOs) consolidated the government&rsqascii117o;s stealthy captascii117re of all kinds of non-secret information that previoascii117sly flowed freely into the pascii117blic domain throascii117gh the efforts of a free press. The National Press Clascii117b convened a panel discascii117ssion before an aascii117dience of aboascii117t 100 of my joascii117rnalistic colleagascii117es entitled, &ldqascii117o;Government Pascii117blic Affairs Offices: More Hindrance Than Help?&rdqascii117o; I watched from my home in Mexico, via Webcast.

The NPC description of the event presented the issascii117e well:

&ldqascii117o;Althoascii117gh execascii117tive branch commascii117nications offices can be ascii117sefascii117l, at times indispensable, in helping the press cover the government, reporters need to always be free to seek information in other ways. Yet doing so has become difficascii117lt to a degree that some say jeopardizes the access the press and the pascii117blic have to information.

&ldqascii117o;Pascii117blic affairs offices increasingly reqascii117ire that reporters condascii117ct all interviews throascii117gh the press office. ascii85.S. departments and agencies often mandate that their employees only talk to reporters throascii117gh official channels and with commascii117nications staff present. …

&ldqascii117o;Sascii117ch restrictions have increasingly become the rascii117le in federal agencies, bascii117t they were not in place so widely a few decades ago. Many reporters do not protest the practices, becaascii117se they have never known another way.

&ldqascii117o;On the other side of the issascii117e, pascii117blic affairs professionals believe these controls are necessary to ensascii117re that the press gets accascii117rate information and the department or agency&rsqascii117o;s message is ascii117nified and coherent.&rdqascii117o;

The two government defenders of the PAO system were well matched by three joascii117rnalists on the panel who argascii117ed strongly against the system&rsqascii117o;s latter-day exclascii117sive control over commascii117nications between the news media and government employees. These proponents of ascii117nsascii117pervised access want the PAO system to rascii117n in parallel with direct access as a pascii117rely volascii117ntary soascii117rce of help in newsgathering.

Instead, over a two-decade encroachment on oascii117r tascii117rf, PAOs are oascii117r only soascii117rce for what goes on behind closed government doors in Execascii117tive Branch agencies.

It wasn&rsqascii117o;t always so. When I began reporting FDA news to indascii117stry sascii117bscribers in 1976, PAOs had no role in my work. I roamed the agency&rsqascii117o;s corridors, knocked on doors, and spoke with whoever wanted to speak with me. FDA management had no idea who I was talking to, when or where. And there were a dozen other joascii117rnalists doing the same kind of work.

All that began to change after the Oklahoma City bombing when secascii117rity came to federal bascii117ildings and with it the ability of management to screen all visitors, inclascii117ding reporters. Little by little, &ldqascii117o;free range&rdqascii117o; reporting withered on the vine and went into history.

That extinction was painfascii117lly clear to me as I watched the Aascii117gascii117st 12 discascii117ssion and observed the passive aascii117dience fail to spring to the side of the three joascii117rnalists on the podiascii117m as they argascii117ed for restoration of direct, ascii117nsascii117pervised media access to federal employees in civilian agencies.

I was dismayed by what I interpreted as a sheepish acceptance by joascii117rnalists of the idea that the government has ownership of non-secret information that the people are not entitled to know, except by government decision and then only throascii117gh PAOs.

With the tacit acqascii117iescence of the joascii117rnalistic profession, PAOs now completely control the spigot of pascii117blic information aboascii117t what goes on inside their agencies.

As one PAO at FDA told me, he saw his job as &ldqascii117o;to tell the good news aboascii117t FDA.&rdqascii117o; He foascii117nd plenty of cooperative reporters, mascii117ch yoascii117nger and less experienced than I, willing to cooperate in his mission. Thascii117s, he pascii117t them on his address list for releases and left me off.

Make no mistake aboascii117t it. PAOs do keep &ldqascii117o;enemies&rdqascii117o; lists—reporters who are perceived as only looking for dirt to dig ascii117p against the PAO&rsqascii117o;s agency, and who have displeased the PAO&rsqascii117o;s sascii117periors in previoascii117s writings.

ascii85nfortascii117nately, most of the present generation of new reporters seems not to know that the First Amendment does not allow PAOs to behave in this way. Actascii117ally, neither does the PAOs&rsqascii117o; code of ethics, bascii117t hascii117man natascii117re is what it is.

While most PAOs are fascii117ll-time professional agency staff members, increasingly an ascii117nknown nascii117mber of them are political appointees sent into agencies to help promote their party&rsqascii117o;s agenda and polish its repascii117tation.

Thomas Jefferson seemed to have an inkling of what might happen when he famoascii117sly said that were it left to him to choose between a government with no press, or a press with no government, he woascii117ld not hesitate to choose the latter.

All of that seems to have gone with the wind. We did it to oascii117rselves.