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F*ck and open transparent government in Arizona! Unless it means good publicity for our government masters.
Insider: Mean ol' reporters are not always kept at bay Mar. 2, 2012 09:51 PM The Republic | azcentral.com The Arizona House of Representatives has caused a bit of a stir in media circles by limiting reporters' access to the House floor. House leaders say they're simply enforcing a rule that says media members must have a special badge, approved by their security department, to get onto the floor. And they've been using those enforcement chops this year, ordering a 12 News reporter to leave the floor and, earlier, questioning the presence of Arizona Republic reporters and photographers who aren't normally assigned to the Capitol. But then last week, an interloper got onto the floor. There was no evidence the safety of the 60 House members was imperiled by the presence of Slate magazine reporter Dave Weigel. But it did raise questions about how the policy was being enforced -- tightly for local reporters, but very loosely for national media? Weigel, in an e-mail, said he was escorted onto the floor by a lawmaker and was later asked for his credentials by a security officer. He showed him his congressional periodical media badge, and all was well. House PIO Rey Torres, who's done the media tossing of late, said it was an oversight -- he wasn't aware of Weigel's presence and would look into the lapse. Meanwhile, lawmakers appear to be moving about their regular floor business without any overt signs of feeling imperiled by the presence of reporters sitting at the media tables. -- Mary Jo Pitzl |