On January 20, Mayor Richard Berry called a news conference to discuss the selection of an independent monitor to oversee reform at the Albuquerque Police Department. City staff sent an announcement to various news outlets, including New Mexico Political Report. That news organization sent Margaret Wright, an established local journalist, to cover the news conference. Wright was barred from the news conference by an APD officer. She offered to show identification as well as proof that she’d been invited. The officer refused to look at any of it and barred Wright from attending.
Wright asked the Rio Grande Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists for a comment on the matter. The board of directors issued the following statement:
A free, diverse press is an essential component in an informed democracy. If Mayor Richard Berry’s administration is going to send out news releases inviting news organizations to news conferences, the mayor and his subordinates must allow those news organizations’ journalists to attend when they show up.
That’s not what happened on January 20.
The Rio Grande chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) strongly condemns the mayor’s arbitrary barring of journalists from important news events that impact the community.
The practice runs a grave risk of giving the public the perception that it is used to keep out members of the press that the city doesn’t like. Powerful government officials should not be allowed to pick and choose which reporters cover them.
Note: NMSPJ President Andy Lyman also works with New Mexico Political Report. He was not involved in the drafting of this statement.
