OLYMPIA, WA – The Washington State Senate in a voice call vote approved a resolution on Wednesday that restricts the ability of the news media to enter the legislative wings unless specifically requested by a senator. The change came after the Capitol Correspondents Association decided to return press credential authority to the Senate.
Prior to that change, the CCA determined who was allowed to receive press credentials, which gives reporters access to areas of the capitol building such as the floor and wings otherwise not permitted to the public unless requested by a legislator.
Senate Resolution 8638, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Manka Dhingra, D-Redmond, changed those rules so that reporters who otherwise would have access to the wings are no longer able to do so “except while moving to and from the press table.”
The other exception is if they are “specifically requested by a senator or senate staff on behalf of a senator as long as the person remains in the wings and adjacent areas of the caucus of which the senator is a member.”
Prior to Wednesday’s vote, Dhingra told colleagues that the CCA would no longer be credentialing reporters, and “as such, this responsibility now lies with the Legislature.”
She added that “the object of this rule is to establish a temporary measure through the remainder of this legislative session. The rule change before us enables those individuals who self-identify as press to have a process to have a seat at the press table. The press is fundamental to our work here, and we look forward to working with the press, open government advocates and all others who have an interest in transferring government and a robust press on a more permanent solution to the credentialing of press this interim.”
Also speaking in favor of the resolution was Sen. Lisa Wellman, D-Mercer Island, who said, “I don’t believe that we see today is the press that I’m used to, the press that so many of our colleegues talk about as renowned journalists. So when we use the word ‘press’ today, I think we’re talking about something very different than the Cronkites and the others that I grew up with. I think that out of due respect for the people who earned the right to call themselves the press and sit in that corner of the room, there are qualifications.”
However, Sen. Jeff Wilson, R-Cheney, opposed the resolution, saying it has the Senate “control who gets to talk to when, who, and how. It’s not just the press and their First Amendment. It’s also our First Amendment. It’s almost impossible to imagine where we would be if we continue to restrict the press.”
Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia, told The Center Square that the resolution was a “step in the right direction” because there won’t be any picking and choosing who constitutes a member of the press. At the same time, he said he was disappointed that the resolution excludes the press from the wings.
“I think they’re sensitive to media that aren’t 100% on their side in the wings with them,” he said. “To me, there’s been no instance of misbehavior. Everybody’s been professional.”
He added that legislators can simply extend permanent invitations to individuals.
The CCA gave up its press credential authority after the association was threatened with legal action by independent journalist and podcaster Brandi Kruse, along with Discovery Institute Senior Journalism Fellow Jonathan Choe. A Feb. 19 letter to the association from an attorney representing them and The Center Square wrote that “your refusal to timely issue full press credentials to the Reporters violates their First Amendment rights, and undermines the rights of the free press and all other reporters in Washington State.”
Kruse wrote in an article that they had been denied credentials because the CCA did not consider them to be journalists as defined by the association’s guidelines.
“The Capitol Correspondents Association was so opposed to giving me a press pass, they abdicated more than 50 years of control and handed it off to the very politicians we’re supposed to be holding accountable,” she wrote. “Those who claim to care the most about government transparency and accountability created this mess by picking and choosing which battles they fought – ignoring attacks on journalists and media outlets who they deemed as less legitimate or whose political opinions they disagreed with. In doing so, they weakened everyone’s First Amendment protections.”
This article was originally published by The Center Square and written by TJ Martinell. Carleen Johnson contributed to the report.
