Global Student Square joins coalition asking Trump administration to meet on media access

OAKLAND, California — Global Student Square has joined a coalition of more than 60 organizations that have requested a meeting with the Trump administration to discuss greater access to government.

A letter requesting a meeting or conference call with President-elect Donald J. Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence was sent Jan. 18 by the Society for Professional Journalists. As outlined in the SPJ’s news release, the coalition is asking the new Trump administration to discuss:

• “the ability of reporters to directly interact with government employees who are subject matter experts, rather than interacting with Public Information Officers (or having all conversations monitored by Public Information Officers);
• access to the activities of the President;
• and ensuring that the Federal Freedom of Information Act remains as strong as possible.”

“We believe strongly that journalists are the eyes and ears of the citizens of the United States,” said SPJ National President Lynn Walsh, who is also an investigative executive producer for NBC 7 in San Diego, California.

“The average American citizen does not have the time or resources to check up on elected officials to make sure they are running the country the way they should,” Walsh said. “It is up to journalists to help hold those in power accountable.”

Making sure the press is “free of constraint and allowed the access it needs to do its job” is a central tenet of American democracy and should not be in question no matter which political party wins the White House, said GSS Executive Director Beatrice Motamedi.

“The eyes of the world really are on us,” Motamedi said. “Many countries and students in those countries will be watching to see if we can successfully transfer power to a new president and still allow journalists to do their job and hold government accountable.”

The Jan. 18 letter was the latest in a series sent to the White House by SPJ since 2013.

Previous letters complained of restrictions on photographers, officials blocking reporters’ requests for interviews with specific staff persons, “excessive delays in answering interview requests that stretch past reporters’ deadlines,” and federal agencies that have been”blackballing” reporters who write critical stories.

On Dec. 15, a delegation including SPJ, the Society of Environmental Journalists and American Society of News Editors met with Obama White House spokesman Josh Earnest to discuss problems including “communications policies, the use of Public Information Officers (PIOs) during interviews, anonymous background briefings, prohibitions against staff members speaking to reporters without notifying PIOs, and other policies that prevent information from flowing to the public,” according to SPJ.

An SPJ white paper details the SPJ’s letters in greater depth.

—Featured photo: President Barack Obama takes questions from student reporters during College Reporter Day in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House, April 28, 2016. Photo by Amanda Lucidon, White House photostream at Flickr.com/U.S. government work.