JEA joins SPJ in letter to the president

The Journalism Education Association joined the Society of Professional Journalists and 36 other journalism and open government groups today calling on President Obama to stop practices in federal agencies that prevent important information from getting to the public.

The letter urges changes to policies that constrict information flow to the public, including prohibiting journalists from communicating with staff without going through public information offices, requiring government PIOs to vet interview questions and monitoring interviews between journalists and sources.

JEA’s board of directors voted unanimously June 30 to sign on to the letter.

The letter outlines other specific examples of the excessive information control, considered by some as a form of censorship.

SPJ also provided the White House with resources on the issue and a list of obstruction examples. The organization asked the administration to set up an avenue through which such incidents can be reported.

SPJ and JEA encourage you as journalism educators to join the fight against these trends in public and private entities at the national, state and local levels. Encourage your news organizations to cover this topic, submit your own comments on the White House website or just sign up for further information about the topic by emailing kfoxhall@verizon.net.

To see the letter that was sent in full to President Obama click here and to see the press release that was sent out to news organizations click here.