The financial pressures on the newspaper industry has put a damper on freedom-of-information battles, with newspapers lacking the money and time to fight for open government.
"If truth is the first casualty of war, then the First Amendment is the first casualty when newspapers bleed," Tim Gallagher, former publisher of the Ventura County Star in California, opines for Editor & Publisher. "And because of the electronic collection and categorization of government records, this is the worst time for the Fourth Estate to crumble in its support of the First Amendment. If newspapers won’t fight now, they might never get access to information that is vital to the democracy."
"While there is scant quantifiable evidence to prove it, the threat of a newspaper access suit made government officials operate under the assumption that 'someone will find out',” Gallagher writes. "Many a mayor or city manager told me so during my 25 years as an editor. The former district attorney in Ventura County said he built time and money in his budget to oppose the access suits my paper would bring against his office."
"But as the economic wheel, turned so did the access suits," Gallagher writes. "Again, there are no quantifiable studies that I can find but Peter Scheer of the California First Amendment Coalition told me that it’s hard to find a newspaper willing to hurt its profit margin by fighting an access suit." Scheer said, “It’s now considered discretionary spending."
"It is a courageous editor or publisher when faced with a declining margin who is willing to spend $25,000 to $50,000 to fight the local city council over payroll records," Gallagher writes. "And Scheer said this is a particularly treacherous time to retrench. The government is collecting ever-more data electronically. Much of it teeters closely to invading the privacy of citizens."
"This is a paradox of our time," Gallagher writes. "Because of easy access to online information, reporters have more information at their fingertips than ever before. But because of the skills of government I.T. people and the hunger for local government to make revenue off the data, much of it is being hidden."
"The squeeze on newspaper companies is not likely to ease anytime soon," he continues. "So owners, publishers and editors need to make a decision and take a stand. If First Amendment and access battles are important, they must become part of the expense budget. At the very least, newspapers need to contribute annually to state organizations (where they exist) that collectively fight the battles." (Read more)
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| Tim Gallagher |
"While there is scant quantifiable evidence to prove it, the threat of a newspaper access suit made government officials operate under the assumption that 'someone will find out',” Gallagher writes. "Many a mayor or city manager told me so during my 25 years as an editor. The former district attorney in Ventura County said he built time and money in his budget to oppose the access suits my paper would bring against his office."
"But as the economic wheel, turned so did the access suits," Gallagher writes. "Again, there are no quantifiable studies that I can find but Peter Scheer of the California First Amendment Coalition told me that it’s hard to find a newspaper willing to hurt its profit margin by fighting an access suit." Scheer said, “It’s now considered discretionary spending."
"It is a courageous editor or publisher when faced with a declining margin who is willing to spend $25,000 to $50,000 to fight the local city council over payroll records," Gallagher writes. "And Scheer said this is a particularly treacherous time to retrench. The government is collecting ever-more data electronically. Much of it teeters closely to invading the privacy of citizens."
"This is a paradox of our time," Gallagher writes. "Because of easy access to online information, reporters have more information at their fingertips than ever before. But because of the skills of government I.T. people and the hunger for local government to make revenue off the data, much of it is being hidden."
"The squeeze on newspaper companies is not likely to ease anytime soon," he continues. "So owners, publishers and editors need to make a decision and take a stand. If First Amendment and access battles are important, they must become part of the expense budget. At the very least, newspapers need to contribute annually to state organizations (where they exist) that collectively fight the battles." (Read more)
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