Incident details
- Updated on
- Date of incident
- December 17, 2024
- Location
- Salt Lake City, Utah
- Case number
- 2:25-cv-00050
- Case status
- Appealed
- Type of case
- Civil
- Government agency or public official involved
- Type of denial
- Change in policy or practice, Press credential or media list
Denial of Access
Bryan Schott, founder of the news website Utah Political Watch, has sued officials in the state’s House and Senate after being denied credentials for the 2025 legislative session on Dec. 17, 2024.
Reporter’s suit over access to Utah Capitol dismissed
Journalist Bryan Schott’s federal suit to gain press credentials from officials in the Utah House and Senate was dismissed on Sept. 29, 2025.
Chief Judge Robert Shelby of the U.S. District Court in Utah disagreed with Schott that the Utah Capitol’s press policy violated the Constitution and granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss the case.
Schott confirmed to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker on Sept. 30 that he had appealed the ruling.
Schott, who had covered the statehouse in Salt Lake City for more than 25 years and received Capitol press credentials since 2013 before founding the news website Utah Political Watch in 2024, filed suit in January after he was denied credentials for the state’s 2025 legislative session.
The Capitol credentialing policy had changed in November 2024, Schott reported, and explicitly excluded “blogs, independent media or other freelance media.”
In his complaint, Schott alleged that the policy change was in retaliation for his reporting, pointing as evidence to texts from the Utah Senate deputy chief of staff, one of the defendants, in which she accused him of a “lack of professionalism,” “lack of journalistic integrity” and “disregard for accurate reporting and ethical standards.”
Schott also told the Tracker that, according to open records requests he made, he was the only one who had been denied a credential. He appealed the decision to the state Legislature, but the chiefs of staff for both the House and Senate upheld it.
In addition, the suit alleged that the policy was unconstitutionally vague, violated Schott’s First Amendment rights, and discriminated “on the basis of content and viewpoint” by excluding blogs and independent media.
Schott first requested a temporary restraining order, which the judge denied, and then a preliminary injunction asking the court to mandate that the Capitol remove several criteria from the policy and grant Schott credentials.
In September, Shelby dismissed the suit and ruled Schott’s request for an injunction moot. Shelby wrote that the policy had not chilled Schott’s newsgathering efforts because he had “reported on the 2025 legislative session without a media credential,” and because “all proceedings of the legislative session are open to the public.”
Shelby also disagreed that the policy was vague and said that because the policy did not regulate “what a reporter may or may not publish,” it was constitutional.
Charles “Chip” Miller, senior attorney at the Institute for Free Speech and a member of Schott’s legal team, told the Tracker he was disappointed that the judge’s order amounted to allowing viewpoint discrimination by the state.
“According to him, there is no right of the media to access materials and information the public cannot get,” Miller wrote. “That isn’t the issue in this case. The State created several fora that are accessible only to credentialed media.
“We are confident the 10th Circuit will correct the District Court’s blatant error,” Miller added.
Editor’s Note: This incident has been updated to include comment from attorney Chip Miller.
Bryan Schott, founder of the news website Utah Political Watch, was denied credentials for the state’s 2025 legislative session on Dec. 17, 2024, a move he characterized in a subsequent lawsuit against officials in the House and Senate as retaliatory.
Schott told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he has covered the statehouse in Salt Lake City for more than 25 years and received Capitol press credentials without issue since 2013. He left The Salt Lake Tribune in mid-2024 to launch the web outlet and is its sole reporter.
In a post on social media, Schott wrote that he first asked about receiving credentials for the upcoming session on Nov. 5, but didn’t initially receive a response. The Capitol credentialing policy was changed Nov. 24, Schott reported, and explicitly excludes “blogs, independent media or other freelance media.”
In a new preamble, the credentialing policy states that the process is “designed to give professional journalists and media representatives from reputable organizations access to cover the legislature and other significant events at the Utah State Capitol.”
The policy’s language around why credentials may be denied or revoked also changed from “Applicant does not represent a professional media organization” to “Does not represent an established reputable news organization or publication.”
Schott told the Tracker that the changes purposefully excluded him and, according to open records requests he made, he was the only one who had been denied a credential. Meanwhile, Schott added, other new and independent outlets haven’t seen their access change.
Attorneys with the Institute for Free Speech, which is representing Schott, argued that the retaliatory aspect was made clear in an official’s response to Schott, after he reported Dec. 12 on allegations that Senate President Stuart Adams had violated campaign disclosure laws.
When Schott reached out for comment to Aundrea Peterson, Utah Senate deputy chief of staff and media liaison designee, she accused him of having a “disregard for accurate reporting and ethical standards” and told him “you aren’t a journalist,” according to the lawsuit.
In the text exchange included in the suit, Schott wrote to Peterson, “It certainly sounds like you’re going to use your criticism of this story you don’t like to deny me a press credential next week.” She responded, “We will follow our policy when reviewing media credential applications.”
Adams also derided the article in a post on the social platform X, referring to it as a “blog post” and to Schott as a “former media member,” accusing him of “neglectful journalism that undermines the profession’s integrity.”
Schott applied for Capitol press credentials five days later, on Dec. 17. Although he passed the background check, his request was denied based on the new policy’s exclusion of “blogs, independent, or other freelance journalists.” He appealed the decision, but the chiefs of staff for both the House and Senate upheld it Dec. 26.
The Utah legislative session began on Jan. 21, 2025, and Schott filed his lawsuit against the chiefs of staff and media liaisons for both legislative chambers the following day. The suit alleges violations of his First and Fourteenth amendment rights and asks for an order requiring the Capitol to credential independent media, as well as nominal damages totaling $17.91, the year the Bill of Rights was ratified.
Schott told the Tracker on Jan. 27 that in the days since, he has missed multiple media availabilities, news conferences and news releases because of his lack of access to areas of the Capitol and exclusion from the press list.
“It’s dangerous when you allow the people who are the subject of reporting to decide who is and who is not a legitimate media outlet or legitimate journalist and that’s what is happening here,” Schott said. “They are picking and choosing who gets to ask them questions, who gets to cover them.”
A Feb. 5 hearing is scheduled on Schott’s request for a temporary restraining order requiring the legislature to grant him credentials for the current session, he told the Tracker. But he added that Utah’s legislative session is the shortest in the country, lasting only 45 days, so even if the order is granted that day he will have already missed a third of the session.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogs press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to [email protected].
