EPA's War On Journalists Is Not A Good Look

Journalism

from the even-if-it's-become-sadly-expected dept

The Obama administration was terrible when it came to how it treated journalists, acting vindictively against many journalists, and opening up investigations that created massive chilling effects on journalism. While some supporters of our previous President insisted that these actions were necessary due to the journalists “leaking” or revealing sensitive information, that’s a ridiculous claim. A journalist’s job is to report on things, including revealing the kind of information a government would prefer be kept secret. And, more importantly, normalizing a government at war with the journalists who cover it was bound to be abused even more going forward.

And that brings us to the current administration, whose attacks on journalists have been frequent as well, though of a different, more clumsy nature. While the last administration focused on keeping secrets and launching chilling investigations, this one seems focused on name calling and hamfisted attempts at shutting out the media in the most obvious and petty of ways. Neither approach is good, but the current administration’s attacks on journalists are so blatant and so stupid, it just makes people wonder what they’re so afraid of.

While most people think mainly about the President’s comments about the media, the EPA’s attitude towards the media may be even more instructive. Just a few weeks ago, NY Times reporter Eric Lipton, in an interview with NPR’s Terry Gross, explained how the EPA sought to shut out the media:

Well, this has been something that’s been apparent to reporters that cover the EPA for a year now where every Friday or so we send in a request to the Agency to ask them what’s up this week, where is the administrator going? And, you know, therefore can we be there essentially to observe his activity as he travels around the United States, in some cases around the world? It’s part of our job to cover that. They never tell us where he’s going.

And, you know, every Friday we send in this email to say, you know, we’re trying to do our jobs to cover the Agency. What they do is they take their trips. They require that the participants that are, you know, part of the various events that they’re going to have not tell any reporters unless they selectively pick a reporter they think is going to give them good treatment. And the only time that we become aware of it is when Scott Pruitt or his staff sends out tweets, and then they issue a press release with photos taken from the staff. So honestly, it’s a bit like propaganda as opposed to actual events that the public has access to.

Later in the interview, Lipton shares another story of how EPA boss Scott Pruitt almost ended up at an event where open questions would be asked — after the organizer of the event declared that it was a town hall-style event with questions, and the EPA not only flipped out and said no Q&A would be allowed, but sent that organizer a list of “allowed” questions that included hard hitting journalistic inquiries like “What has it been like to work with President Trump?”

So it should come as little surprise that on Tuesday, at an event where Pruitt was scheduled to speak, the EPA decided to just keep a bunch of reporters out. Specifically, reporters from the Associated Press, CNN, and an environmental publication called E&E News. In the case of the AP reporter, Ellen Knickmeyer, security allegedly “grabbed [her] by the shoulders and shoved [her] out of” the EPA building.

The EPA’s response was that these reporters were blocked due to space constraints:

?The leadership summit quickly reached capacity with a wide variety of stakeholders including representatives from over 40 states, territories, and tribes,? Wilcox said in a prepared statement.

And that sounds like a valid excuse until you hear that there were “dozens of empty seats in the room” according to reporters who were there (mentioned in the same link above).

The EPA also tried to blame the AP reporter for security grabbing her and removing her from the building, but later had to change its false statement claiming that she had tried to shove her way in, which does not appear to be true.

After security told her that ?we can make you get out,? Knickmeyer said she took out her phone to record what was happening. Some of the security guards reached for it, and a woman grabbed her shoulders from behind and pushed her about five feet out the door.

Wilcox issued a statement late Tuesday saying Knickmeyer ?pushed through the security entrance.? After the AP objected to the characterization, the spokesman issued a second statement removing that account and instead saying Knickmeyer ?showed up at EPA but refused to leave the building after being asked to do so.?

Separately, the argument that this was a space issue is undermined by a report that the EPA had a list of which reporters were to be blocked. According to CNN:

A CNN photographer was screened by security guards before the event and was waiting for an escort or further information. Wilcox arrived soon after and provided security with a list of news outlets and reporters, instructing them not to let anyone not on the list into the event. The CNN photographer then asked if he could enter the event and was told by security he couldn’t.

This is a really bad look for an agency that already is looking pretty dismal. The fact that some press was let in and others weren’t — and that phony excuses were used multiple times in multiple ways — suggests an agency that wants to be vindictive against coverage it doesn’t like. These kinds of attacks on the press may be different in nature than those of the previous administration, but it does show how the general attacks on the press by any administration are shameful attempts to avoid being held accountable. While the strategies may be different, the end effect is a much weaker and less well-informed society. That should be seen as a serious problem.

Filed Under: 1st amendment, censorship, epa, journalism, scott pruitt
Companies: associated press, cnn