News-Record.com

So you’re a presumptive candidate for governor. You’ve just been pilloried in the national media for conflicts of interest related to your office.

You want to regain control of the story. So you:

a)Come out immediately, guns a-blazin’ to answer the charges.

b)Run and hide.

c)Hack off your local media, especially broadcasters.

For the answer, I refer you to an e-mail from State Treasurer Richard Moore’s office:

State Treasurer Richard Moore will hold an on-the-record pen and pad briefing for capital area reporters on the state pension fund’s investments on Friday, March 2nd at 11 a.m. The briefing will be held in the Dawson Conference Room on the first floor of the Albemarle Building (325 N. Salisbury Street). There will be time allotted for questions.

My colleagues in the broadcast media are understandably upset about this, despite being offered opportunities for “sound bites” afterward.

Although there is a tradition of doing this sort of thing is practiced in Washington, D.C., calling a press conference and then restricting the tools of the trade allowed is pretty much unheard of around these parts. And since we’re all doing audio and video now, it affects print reporters as much as broadcasters.

I (and many others) have asked for clarification and will post here when I get it.

Update:Laura over at WUNC has also engaged on this story. For the record, it does appear from a LEGAL perspective, Moore can set whatever rules he wants. Whether they make any sense, I'll leave that to you in the peanut gallery. The comments link is open.

Update2: Moore's press person writes back:

Thanks so much for your email. The Friday briefing is an opportunity for members of the Capital Press Corps to learn about the pension fund’s investments, basic investment strategy and industry standards. It was designed to give reporters a solid foundation in investments in order to inform their reporting going forward. That being said, the discussion will be on the record; questions will be taken; and handouts will be available.

I am asking that all reporters rely on “pad and pen” due to the location size and the number of potential attendees and in hopes of fostering an atmosphere of discussion. Treasurer Moore will be available after the briefing to provide video and audio for those reporters that would like it.

I’m pretty sure this is not going to deter very many folks from showing up with their full set of gear.

Update2: Laura writes back to Moore's folks:

With all due respect, excluding a third of the press corps from being able to gather on-the-record information does not foster an atmosphere of discussion - and it's ethically inappropriate for a public servant in a public building, talking about how he's managing public dollars.

It's also implausible to think there's no room in the Albemarle building large enough to accommodate cameras and microphones. That's
never been a problem in the past, when you *wanted* broadcast coverage.

I'll be bringing my recording equipment. So will a lot of other radio and tv reporters. If you choose to throw us out, or bar us, we'll be recording that. And it'll be that story - not Moore's investment success - which will become the headline.

Full disclosure, Laura and I are going to talk to a journalism class this afternoon. This post might be on our minds.