Oklahoma TV station sues after its journalists barred from public meetings

Journalists from Oklahoma City broadcast station KFOR-TV were barred from attending Oklahoma State Board of Education meetings and news conferences on four occasions in 2024, starting in March. The outlet’s parent company and three of its journalists filed a federal lawsuit Sept. 23 against the state officials behind the exclusions.

According to the complaint, KFOR-TV journalists were the only members of the press sent to an “overflow” room to observe the meetings on March 28, June 27, July 31 and Aug. 22 — despite ample space in the board meeting room — and were barred from attending the subsequent news conferences.

Dan Isett, the press secretary for the Oklahoma State Department of Education, made it clear that the outlet as a whole was excluded, despite the station having been granted two statehouse press credentials by the state’s Legislative Services Bureau.

After watching a livestream of the July 31 board meeting from the overflow room, reporter Dylan Brown and photographer Kevin Josefy attempted to attend the news conference with Superintendent Ryan Walters. But, the suit said, Isett stopped them before they reached the door.

In footage of the interaction that followed, Brown asks Isett, “We can’t ask him (Walters) questions?” to which Isett responds, “No, that’s a privilege for press.” The journalists defend the reputation of the station, the oldest TV broadcaster in the state, and Josefy then asks, “You’re saying we aren’t a legitimate news organization? Is that what you are trying to say?” Isett simply responds, “Yes.”

During a similar incident on Aug. 22 that was also recorded, Isett intercepted Brown and Josefy at the door of a postmeeting news conference, placing his hands on Brown and blocking him from entering.

Brown asked Isett to give a reason why they were not permitted in the room, but Isett moved to close the door, preventing their entry. As he did so, Brown said, “If you close that door on me you’re restricting my First Amendment rights of access to a public official, sir. That’s what you’re doing.”

When asked by another journalist inside why KFOR-TV was being denied access, Isett reportedly said, “I don’t think they’re a legitimate news organization.”

The Society of Professional Journalists condemned the barring of the KFOR-TV journalists, saying that it is not within Isett’s power to choose which outlets are “legitimate.”

“This is a blatant violation of press freedom by a government agency,” SPJ National President Ashanti-Blaize Hopkins said. “By denying these journalists access to the news conference, he illegally prevented them from carrying out their duty to inform the public.”

SPJ said that when it reached Isett via email, he replied, “Our office works with hundreds of journalists across the state and around the country to keep the public informed about the success Oklahoma students are seeing under Superintendent Walters. We will not work with tabloids who consistently editorialize and report false information rather than inform the public.”

Isett did not respond to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s request for further comment.

The lawsuit argued that the exclusion of KFOR-TV is in retaliation for the outlet’s editorial stance, and requested a temporary restraining order requiring that its journalists be granted full access to upcoming Board of Education meetings, including one on Sept. 26.

A judge granted the request during a hearing on Sept. 25, ruling that the station is likely to succeed in its First Amendment claim against the state officials and that the justification for the exclusion is “little more than a ruse.”

District Judge Bernard Jones wrote that permitting a governmental agency to restrict access based on a unilateral decision that an outlet’s reporting is false “would empower the government to act as the final arbiter of truth, chilling investigative journalism and suppressing dissenting viewpoints.”

“The First Amendment has never permitted the government to silence the press simply because it disagrees with the content of its reporting,” Jones added.

Brown posted on the social platform X about the order and quoted a response from Isett: “A judge can give KFOR privileges, but that doesn’t keep the organization from being fake news.”

The temporary restraining order grants KFOR-TV access for two weeks while hearings in the case continue, which will include the station’s request for a preliminary injunction to ensure access through the duration of the suit.