When I began working in small radio stations in the early 1970s, there was a defined area of what was and was not media. You could work for a newspaper, television station, magazine or radio station – any of those were clearly media.
At small radio stations, you do a little of everything. Although most of my work centered on programming music and covering sports, I was sometimes called upon to cover some news.
Even though I would represent a small radio station, no one questioned my credentials. Working for a radio station made you media and you covered the event. That would include police, city or any news conference that might arise of interest to our local community.
At that time, there was no Internet. The media universe was well-defined and if you were part of that media universe, you were credentialed media.
That definition has become much more complicated. I have never requested any press credentials since starting this local Fishers news blog in 2012. I have come to know most of the elected officials and other people making news in Fishers. No one asks for my credentials or questions my need to cover any event.
Once when former 5th District Congresswoman Susan Brooks had a Fishers event to meet and talk with constituents, I made the mistake of not arranging with her office in advance to cover the event. When denied entrance at first, a police officer handling security intervened, vouched for me, and I was able to cover the event.
Members of the media covering the Indiana Statehouse are credentialed through the Indiana Department of Administration. That agency’s job is just to ascertain you are genuinely working media covering state government and not just someone wanting to attend events, like news conferences.
A recent court filing by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Indiana has placed front and center who is, and is not, a journalist meriting attendance at news conferences held by state officials.
Todd Rokita is the Indiana Attorney General. Abdul-Hakim Shabazz is a political commentator that writes a local Indiana Web site on politics, has a weekend radio program and has served on many TV & radio political panels. He has been doing this for about 20 years.
The lawsuit stems from an action by Rokita’s office to deny Shabazz attendance at news conferences held by the Attorney General. According to the ACLU of Indiana lawsuit filed in federal court, Rokita does not recognize Shabazz as a genuine journalist, asserting he is “gossip columnist” in a statement quoted within the legal filing.
So, the question here is, how does one define a journalist? Even if Mr. Shabazz is a “gossip columnist” (and that is open to question) would he not still be a journalist with the right to attend news conferences held at the Indiana Statehouse? Remember, Mr. Shabazz holds a press credential to cover the Statehouse and has held that credential for many years.
ACLU of Indiana is asking a federal judge to consider whether the Indiana Attorney General has the legal authority to exclude a credentialed member of the media from his news conferences. Does any elected official have the authority, under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, to determine who is, and is not, a working reporter covering a news conference?
It will be interesting to see how a federal judge will answer that question.