Stonewalled At The Capitol

Saint Paul, Minnesota
March 1, 2009
By Marty Owings

There is a something very, well lets just say un-democratic going on at the Minnesota State Capitol and like all decent Journalists I wanted to get to the bottom of it. I'd heard rumors that online media people were being denied credentials. "This couldn't be" I thought, after all we're talking about THE major public instituion in the state.

So I set out to find the truth. I went to apply for credentials at both the Senate and House Sergeant At Arms offices as this is the first step in the credentialing process. On the Senate side, I was given a form which I filled out and returned to that office the same day. Then I went to the House side and before I was given any application form I was told I needed to meet with Sergeant At Arms Sandy Dicke.

Our meeting was brief. After explaining that I did some on air reporting for KFAI, but that most of my news was online, the Sergeant informed me that she wouldn't be taking my application. She told me that because they didn't have any rules governing "online" media, she couldn't issue me any credentials and promptly referred me to House Majority Leader Tony Sertich's Office. Well, being a former military person, I thought I'd better follow the chain of command and stop by my own Representatives office to explain my efforts and make sure they understood what I was trying to accomplish.

My first stop was Representative Nora Slawik. She didn't hesitate to invite me into her office even though I'd shown up unannounced at lunch time. She listened to my story intently and even placed a call to the Sgt. Dicke's office. She seemed sympathetic and assured me she would see what she could do, I got the impression that she definitely would. Then I popped into see Rep. Leon Lillie, also from my district. He also listened intently and said he's see what he could do. I thanked him with the assurance I would be following up soon, we shook hands and I left.

A few days went by and I'd heard nothing, so I sent some emails and left a few messages. Another day passed and still nothing.

I decided I needed to solicit some more help. I wondered how many Representatives might be interested in hearing about my troubles, so I went down to the House while it was in session and began to send requests to the floor. By the way, anyone is allowed to send notes to the floor during session to request a "hallway" meeting with a Representative, you should try it sometime, its fun if you don't mind waiting.

That first day I sent in about 8 notes...then I waited...and I waited and I waited some more. For four hours I waited outside the floor and no one came to see me. I left feeling a little like I was unwanted, but it was more likely that they were too busy to deal with my small issue, besides the hallway was jammed with important Lobbyist they needed to speak with first. I get, I understand.

That next day I left more messages, sent a few more emails....and waited. Still nothing.

The next day I went to a House Committee Hearing on the budget. I set up my camera and laptop and was streaming the hearing live when I was approached by a gentleman who said he was from the Sergeant At Arms office. He said he needed me to come with him. I told him I was streaming live and asked if it could wait. He told me, politely, if I didn't come along he would have me removed from the meeting.

So I left all my equipment and followed him out of the room. He said we needed to go see Sandy Dicke and that she could explain further. Funny, I hadn't felt this way since I was sent to the Vice Principles office in Junior High School. We arrived at Sgt. Dicke's office and with little explanation she instructed me to take a form and go up to see Majority Leader Sertich's Aide, Lisa Radzak. "Well" I thought "We're finally getting someplace"

When I arrived at Ms. Radzak's office she seemed surprised to see me and asked what this was all about. I explained my dilemma, from the beginning. She listened and asked me a few questions about how I'd handle online journalists. She said she was concerned that every blogger in the world would want access if they opened it up to "online media". I told here that it shouldn't matter. If a journalist is a blogger or working for a major news network, it simply shouldn't matter. At the end of our meeting she told me she would advocate on my behalf and she would so what she could do to resolve the issue. I got the feeling she'd heard this story or another one similar to mine many times...and since I didn't see too many online media people covering the House, I sort of got the feeling that Ms. Radzak wasn't telling me everything.

I'm such a bad quitter that I went back downstairs collected my equipment and waited for the House Session to begin. This time I sent in 24 notes. I guess someone upstairs likes me because finally I got to speak with a few Representatives. First, I spoke with Rep. Karen Clark from Minneapolis, who assured me she was sympathetic and said she'd get to the bottom of it. Then I spoke with Rep. Hayden, Rep. Champion, Rep. Steve Smith, Rep. Rukavina and a few others.

After a few more minutes Rep. Clark emerged from the House Floor to let me know she was working on it. She asked me a few questions about KFAI and RFN and was off again. A short while later she came back, this time with Rep. Hayden and my new friend Rep. Sertich's Aide Lisa Radzak. They assured me it was an important issue and they were going to resolve it soon. I left feeling confident that my elected officials would soon repair this injustice.

That night, I got word from Andy Driscoll, host of Truth To Tell on KFAI that a House rules meeting had been scheduled to discuss online press access and that it would be taking place the next day. As always, I got to the meeting early, set up my camera and my laptop and was ready to stream. Again, I was approached by a member of Sargeant At Arms Sandy Dicke's staff and told I would not be allowed to stream live. I put my equipment away without argument and took a seat, hoping I wouldn't be thrown out altogether.

When it came time for the issue to be discussed, Rep. Sertich who chairs the rules committee, decided that it wasn't worth discussing since its sponsor, Rep. Steve Smith wasn't present. He added that they'd work on the rules. No testimony, no sponsor, no advocate....and once again, no access.

About five or six others from online media outlets were present at the meeting, all were frustrated and disappointed. As a result, our journey for access to our public institutions continues. At least one prominent organization has come out in support of online media access at the Capitol. Here is an open letter from the Society or Professional Journalist written by Art Hughes.

http://www.mnspj.org/2009/02/26/mn-spj-supports-online-journalists/

While it may surprise some of your to hear about all this, it might even be more surprising to learn that almost a decade into the 21st century our Minnesota Law Makers don't recognize online media. But that's only part of the issue. When I was meeting with Lisa Radzak, Legislative Aide to Majority Leader Sertich, she mentioned some Legislators felt uncomfortable with camera's in public meetings. When I pointed out that House camera's were running in all the meetings, she responded by saying "yeah, but those are operated by the Capitol". To me, what this says is that Law Makers are uncomfortable with camera's they don't control.

As someone who thought that our Law Makers would welcome transparency, I find it almost impossible to believe this is even happening. In the meantime, I'll be joining hosts Andy Driscoll and Lynell Mikelson for Truth To Tell this Wednesday at 11 a.m. for a special program focusing on this issue. Other members of the online media covering the Capitol will join us as well, so don't miss it. http://kfai.org/ and streaming LIVE online at http://myradiofreenation.com/

For reference, here is a list of other online news organizations who cover the Capitol regularly or who have applied for credentials:

MinnPost
Look True North
Minnesota Independent
The Uptake
Checks & Balances
MnPublius
Minnesota Democrats Exposed
Radio Free Nation
KFAI Radio
Twin Cities Daily Liberal

Here are states that allow Floor Access to Journalists:
http://www.ncsl.org/programs/press/lincs/MediaAccess.htm