Denial of Access

So far in 2019, at least 28 denial of access to government events that are traditionally open or attended by the press have been tracked

Total cases	44

Reporters removed from Kansas Senate floor, threatened with loss of press passes

June 4, 2019

Journalists were expelled from the Kansas Senate in Topeka after protesters disrupted a Medicaid expansion hearing on May 29, 2019. …

Hawaii reporter denied access to cover Army meeting

May 23, 2019

West Hawaii Today county and government reporter Nancy Cook Lauer was barred from attending a U.S. Army meeting that the newspaper contends was opened to the general public in Hilo, Hawaii, on May 16, 2019.Lauer was attempting to cover a meeting that outlined the Army’s resource management plants at Pohakuloa Training Area and the Kawaihae Military Reservation outside an Aupuni Center meeting room.Lauer wrote in a West Hawaii Today article that she was told “the participating parties might not feel …

Colorado newspaper denied access to cover horse roundup

May 2, 2019

Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado denied the press access to cover a horse roundup and removal, a process that …

Baltimore court denies reporters access to courtroom audio recordings

May 7, 2019

The Baltimore City Circuit Court released an order dated April 24, 2019 that denies reporters the ability to obtain courtroom …

Tennessee Highway Patrol blocks reporters from covering protest, threaten with arrest

April 19, 2019

The Tennessee Highway Patrol threatened several reporters with arrest and blocked them from continuing reporting while they were covering a …

Judge limits media access to evidence in Minnesota police shooting trial

April 4, 2019

The judge presiding over the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor ruled on March 29 that media …

Department of State bars press pool from briefing call, allowing only “faith-based media”

March 25, 2019

The State Department barred the department’s press corps from a briefing call with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on March …

Ohio political reporter removed from Democratic Party mailing list, reinstated by chair

May 9, 2019

Cleveland political reporter Seth Richardson was removed from the Ohio Democratic Party press release mailing list by staff in March 2019. Richardson posted a thread on Twitter that he had apparently been “frozen out” from covering the Ohio Democratic Party, and suggested he may have been removed from the press distribution list in response to his reporting.

More Incidents

How we track Denials Of Access

Denial of access to government events that are traditionally open or attended by the press and where the denial of access either deprives the public of significant information, appears to be retaliatory, or is done without meaningful justification. Concrete changes in policy or practice to restrict or deny access may also be included in this category.

Denial of access to individuals in some cases, such as where the available space limits the number of journalists allowed to attend or where individuals arguing for access do not meet reasonable standards for credentials, can be seen as meaningful justifications and will not be included.