An odd thing happened on the way to the press gallery
I’m not enthralled with the new line that has been drawn in the sand down in Charlottetown. At a time where anyone with the interest to do so can “report” on life on the street, the traditional media has competition. The blog vs the broadsheet, if you prefer. Now, following a decision by the Press Gallery of the P.E.I. Legislative Assembly, only accredited journalists will be allowed direct access to government information. All others, step back and read the interpretation of the vested professionals.
I’d never thought much about it, before. If you wanted to stick a microphone in front of an elected official, you had a better chance of “getting an answer” if you were a recognized face with one of those fancy logo thingies in hand (the correct term is a “microphone flag”). Just standing around and trying to start a conversation is a short road to being ignored. If you are handy with a pen and small notepad, you could scribble away, but until a company with circulation stats adopted you (or agreed to give you money), you were just another bystander. In the case of the student press (does anyone remember the Cadre?) you were neither fish nor fowl.
There were (and are) schools of journalism, where “you pays your money, does your homework” and eventually get a grasp of basic grammar rules. Then, having paid your money and completed your assignments in a timely fashion, you were deemed ready to join the ranks of the Fifth Column.
Now, you can blog. Unfortunately, guilds are protective of their place in the proper scheme of things, and a will doesn’t mean a way. In Charlottetown, Stephen Pate of the NJN Network, has been “voted off the island” in press gallery terms; he won’t be given a place at the big information table with the rest of the clique.
What makes this situation newsworthy is that the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly expressed her will: that young man does not deserve to have a “press pass”, and the others (normally adversaries of anything that stifles a right to free speech, or paid speech) simply agreed to make it so. -30-
I’m not in a position to judge the merits of the case, as I’m just another reader. But, it strikes me that the Press Gallery just went from a situation of reporting to a situation of supporting. And that’s not right. Is anyone going to ask the Who, What, When, Where and Why?
