Ohio Legislative Correspondence Association (OLCA) Says "Get Lost" To Blogs
Jill's been mulling over efforts to get access to the Ohio Statehouse for the blogs for quite a while. I've been out to the pasture for quite a while on whether I think blogs should be permitted to join OLCA (I lean no). However, it appears that an arm of EPluribus Media has recently launched efforts to do just that. But, apparently OLCA has said now way (big surprise).
I've got EPluribus media's release after the fold. However, I've got a bigger question regarding why the media controls access to the statehouse in the first place. Anyone in the know want to fill me in?
EPluribus Media and the OhioNews Bureau, its pioneering outpost for state news bureaus, was dealt a partial blow Tuesday when the Ohio Legislative Correspondents Association (OLCA) rejected its request that three seasoned journalists be considered for active membership in the Ohio Statehouse press corps.
EPluribus Media launched the OhioNews Bureau in July 2007 as the first step towards building a network of citizen-journalism driven news and information services that will produce original reporting on statewide news from key 2008 battleground states.
"We are disappointed, to say the least, that the Ohio commercial news media have decided to act as a closed shop, keeping from full legislative coverage those whose approach to news gathering and presentation differs from their own," said Aaron Barlow, a board member for ePluribus Media who has been actively involved with the project since early September, when the request was originated.
Barlow, author of The Rise of the Blogosphere: American Backgrounds, and Blogging @merica: The New Public Sphere, teaches Technical Writing and Composition at New York City College of Technology of the City University of New York.
John Michael Spinelli, a former OLCA member who now serves at OhioNews Bureau Chief, said the rejection of him and two other seasoned journalists, Timothy D. Smith and Anastasia Pantsios of Cleveland, while totally anticipated, represents a partial setback for the OhioNews Bureau, which provides the kind of reporting on important, often overlooked Ohio stories not generally found in mainstream media publications.
"Breaking down the walls of the status quo is not new to me," Spinelli said about the rejection response from OLCA that one of the group's former presidents, who had a chance to comment on it, characterized as "insulting."
Familiar with the internal politics and commercial agenda of several of the group's member from his years working in the Ohio Statehouse press room, Spinelli said the underlying message of the rejection notice was "don't rock the boat.
"But that's exactly what new-media, citizen-journalism oriented groups like ours are doing," he said. "We're every bit as accurate, forthright and professional as the faltering fat cats who still think they control what qualifies as news."
Spinelli observed that OLCA has a real problem with many of its members being employed by news groups who are members of the Ohio Newspaper Association (ONA), which lobbies the Ohio Legislature, when this is a direction violation of the group's constitution and bylaws. Commenting on the accusation by OLCA board members that the work of ONB's three seasoned reporters' was politically biased, Spinelli said that OLCA does not define metrics for those determinations, and such declarations are conveniently made on a subjective basis. "Speaking truth to power," he said, "makes news- or law-makers uneasy; we will not shirk from the obligation to take all quarters, regardless of the expected blowback from our reporting."
As a point of fact, ePluribus Media in general and the OhioNews Bureau in particular are not only not members of the ONA, and are therefore not compromised in their reporting by the unspoken, self-interested agenda of advertisers who keep legacy news rooms alive despite shrinking revenues, or beholden to the Ohio General Assembly, which butters the bread of many OLCA members and whose members would rather confront a compliant press than one that bites back.
EPluribus Media was established in 2005 as a 501(c) (4) cooperative of contributing writers and journalists. It is a virtual, national Website that has won recognition for its unique news products, called Timelines, which provide exhaustive news references about historic events like Hurricane Katrina and Rita.
Researchers at ePluribus Media lead the field in tracking the tragic issue of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) arising from the war in Iraq. It has also broken important stories and produced unique coverage related to the targeting of Democrats by President Bush's Department of Justice and details related to various election irregularities, including the practice of vote caging.
National newspapers like the New York Times, The Washington Post and the LA Times have turned to ePluribus Media journalists and products on various occasions. So have nationally respected columnists like Paul Krugman and others, who have recognized the valuable, original work that has come to light through ePluribus Media journalists.
Among other distinctions, ePluribus Media was accepted by the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism to participate in the Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Leadership Program, along with other well-recognized, well-funded news groups, to explore the emergence of new-media news and information.
EPluribus Media journalists have secured press credentials to cover US House committee meetings and to cover the National Conference on Media Reform and other newsworthy events that enabled its representatives to stand shoulder to shoulder with reporters from other mainstream media organizations.
OLCA was created by the Ohio General Assembly in 1893 to accredit statehouse reporters. Currently, its membership consists of 42 reporters representing 21 news organizations.
To read the OhioNews Bureau story on OLCA's rejection of our reporters, paste the following link into your browser's URL: http://discuss.epluribusmedia.net/node/453
I don't understand the structure of the arrangement well enough (as I expressed in the article, I'm not the biggest fan of allowing the media to regulate itself in this venue). However, my fear is that if blogs were allowed to regularly act as the press does in the legislative arena, it could create a volatile environment. I'm picturing Matt Naugle or Tom Blumer, or someone like them, applying for credentials. Maybe someone funded by the right, with the sole intention of using their OLCA credetials for political advantage of their party. I think that could be disastrous. Also, I like the idea of maintaining the civility of the press corps, unfortunately they do need to be pushed for change too (the sort of push competition with the blogs provides).
I guess I'm letting out a little bit of my guarded perspective of the 'sphere and it's role too. I think it ultimately comes down to my view on blogs. I've always said that I consider myself and this blog to hold more of an activist slant than a journalistic slant. If there were some way to screen out the types of blogs from the process, or institute a code, I might hold a different view.
I rarely expect Republicans to speak with me or this site, because of the type of our perspective. So I guess I don't expect that type of access either.
But as of yet, it's not something I'm prepared to support. But I am open to discussion about it...and my view isn't firmed up.
I'm a big WLST fan, but I think Jill's tilting at an old, established windmill here. OK, Jerid… here it is in a large nutshell.
The Ohio legislature delegates to the Ohio Legislative Correspondents Association (OLCA) the credentialing of media (1) to ensure that fulltime reporters from “legitimate news” organizations – not lobbyists or reps of special interest groups – gain access to the two floors and (2) because desk space or seating around the floors is very limited. The OLCA Press Room (across the hall from Governor’s office on the first floor of the Statehouse) provides desk space and clerical services to the OLCA-cleared reporters – paid for by Senate/House funds – usually one clerk paid for by each chamber. The state provides a Broadcast pressroom in the basement below the Atrium.
The practice of OLCA clearing fulltime “real” reporters goes back to the 19th Century when OLCA was formed and designated as the Legislature’s credential-issuing agent – hence the term “Legislative” for the L in OLCA. In the 1890s, railroad, steel and other biz lobbyists posed as representatives of so-called news services or newsletters for their associations and spent a lot of time on the floors, physically collaring legislators and persuading them to vote certain ways – sometimes with sheer physical presence. This was obviously viewed as an abuse of the flor privilege – extended to the MSM of the day.
Sometime in that era, Gongwer News Service, AP and Ohio newspaper correspondents led the effort to form OLCA and get legislative leaders to bless OLCA as the official “clearinghouse” to designate exactly who was and was not a real, fulltime reporter representing The Plain Dealer, the Dispatch, the Enquirer etc. (No broadcasters or bloggers existed obviously) OLCA also has issued temporary credentials to non-fulltime journalists, such as editorial writers, who may visit occasionally for a State of the State message or some other temporary reason to gain access to the floors – and to the pressrooms. Most bloggers would probably not meet this historic “test” for credentials – especially if they attempted to “lobby” or represent special groups such as the political parties or the “wingnut” interests of the Right Wing Noise Machine. Thus, your own reservations about bloggers “joining” OLCA are probably well-founded in OLCA history.
Even if OLCA journalist members would start admitting bloggers to membership and admitting them to the chamber floors, they might run into objections from the House and Senate leadership – both Rs and Ds. Bloggers would likely be asked to join the public and the lobbyists in the public seating areas -- and not be extended floor privileges.
One might want to raise the issue of taxpayer funds subsidizing MSM activities. The ethical issue therein has been argued by OLCA members off and on for years. In the past, some news orgs have even paid “rent” for the Press Room space and services, but I don’t know if any do that these days. I left OLCA and its arcane inner workings years ago.
So good Luck to Jill. Who knows? It's a Change Election Year. Maybe, bloggers can get somewhere if they make a bi-partisan argument to legislative leaders of both parties. I just doubt there is enough room on the floors for everybody.
I've never come at this from a "Bloggers should be able to damnit" perspective. I've approached it as an issue related to how many more Ohioans access news and information via the Internet and desire transparency. The lag time in learning about what goes in the statehouse, when there is someone covering what's going on and that someone uses his or her filter to call what's going on "news" enough for publishing it on a blog, website or in print, is completely out of sync with what can be provided now. Why shouldn't it be provided, is part of what I'm asking. Why shouldn't Ohioans get more diverse looks at what goes on?
Think of it this way: is OLCA saying that each and every one of them is basically a duplicate of the other, so in fact, all they really do is swap each other out for when the other isn't around, since, after all, what they write is allegedly so devoid of bias or slant?
If in fact that is the case and we are supposed to believe that, then how many of them do they really need? Why do they even need an association, and why wouldn't/why shouldn't all the Ohio papers just use a wire service coming out of the statehouse - Gongwer or whichever? Why would any one paper need a bureau there if they are all, supposedly, so unbiased and just telling the facts?
Because that isn't how or what they report. Because what Cincy thinks is news from the statehouse isn't the same as Cleveland, Toledo, Dayton or the hundreds of small towns inbetween.
Hyperlocal. Politics is local. Bloggers do local.
There IS room for collaboration. Tilting at windmills? Sure, whatever. But they are tangible to me as they need to be, and I've got off the record exchanges to prove it, well, to myself. :)
After reading the media release from ePluribus' OhioNews Bureau and comments that followed here, and as much as Jill has beat the drum on this issue, ePluribus Media had the moxy and guts to dare enter the media monestary that is OLCA. They deserve a round of applause for breaking the club open at the seams, so everyone can have a peek inside.
Since the days of lobbyists collaring legislators on the floor to coax or intimidate them to vote one way or another are gone, what's the real point of allowing any reporter on the floor? The Senate Clerk runs the show anyhow, and aside from the after session "gang bang," where reporters gather to ask questions of the Senate President or the House Speaker, what's so special about floor access? As was pointed out, why don't the OLCA boys and girls just hang out in the halls with everyone else, instead of being given this special access to do what and for what purposes is totally unclear -- and unnecessary. This is like letting the press box guys roam the field while the game is being played. What public purpose is served. They all sit there like bumps on a log anyhow. If the press really wanted to be independent, it wouldn't be groveling for the free space its given by the Legislature. They ought to rent their own space. This way they can press their points without fear of being charge rent someday because legislative leaders got a burr under their saddle, or the budget is a few bucks short.
But the issue that's being totally overlooked here is that OLCA is in violation of its own constitution. Conflict of interest, OLCA's big bugaboo, is violated by allowing any reporter who works for a news group that pays dues to a group that lobbies the legislature. The media release mentioned that, but that seems to have been lost in translation. The Ohio Newspaper Association lobbies the Legislature, pure and simple. No reporter who works for a newspaper who belongs to that group should be allowed membership, its a direct violation of their constitution. Enforcing this key tenant would decimate their ranks, which is why they ignore it and hope others will, too. Plus, one member of OLCA contracts with the Senate and House to deliver news to them. Hello? This is a government contract. Violation.
And as for Dan Williamson, his political bias seems not to be a problem perceived by the OLCA folks. But getting him in was a fight among the members themselves.
But if the legislature would ever consider public coverage of its meeting and hearings as other states do, that would be a big blow to a lot of pocketbooks down there. Business are built and good livings are earned because the Ohio Legislature is so behind the times with public access. OLCA members resell their advantage, and non-OLCA members can't. It's really a question of fairness.
It also seems that political bias can be as much a function of what is not said as what is said. Asking softball questions, or not probing too far so you don't anger someone, is lazy, politically biased journalism. New-media journalists -- the term bloggers has taken on such a negative tone -- are well aware of standards of journalism -- honesty, fairness, accuracy, transparency, accountability and trust rank high to the good ones. And to those who don't value those principles, it shows.
But does anyone dare think the little-known perk of OLCA members getting dibs on two OSU season football tickets would figure into who they let in?