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Posted at 12:20 p.m. on April 16, 2019
The Brillion News
MADISON – The conservative MacIver News Service said the administration of Governor Tony Evers is denying it equal press access, so attorneys for the reporters have intervened.
According to a press release issued on April 16, the new service said that the staff of Gov. Evers have blocked MacIver journalists from attending a budget press briefing and refused to add MacIver to the governor’s office press lists.
MacIver News Service said it has approached the administration numerous times in attempts to rectify the situation amicably, but its efforts have been ignored. On April 4, MacIver News Service hand-delivered to administration officials a letter from attorneys for the journalists, demanding that the MacIver reporters receive the same access to public press events and information as journalists from other news outlets.
“It’s been nearly two weeks and the Evers administration has failed to respond to or acknowledge the letter,” the MacIver press release said.
The MacIver Institute is being represented in this matter by Daniel Suhr, associate senior attorney at the public-interest law firm the Liberty Justice Center. His letter to the governor’s office cites numerous federal court cases it says suggest that the Evers administration is acting in violation of the U.S. Constitution.
The letter explains how this ban violates the MacIver journalists’ First Amendment right to equal access and fair treatment as journalists. The letter states that unless Gov. Evers guarantees MacIver News Service’s access to future press events, press releases, and advisories on an equal basis with other news media, MacIver News Service and the Liberty Justice Center will be forced to move forward with litigation.