(This story was updated to add new information. )
A federal judge granted a temporary restraining order Wednesday that will keep Oklahoma State Department of Education officials from barring journalists from Oklahoma City television station KFOR from the room in which State Board of Education meetings and news conferences are held.
Earlier Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Bernard Jones heard arguments concerning KFOR's request to force state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters and his spokesman, Dan Isett, to allow the station’s journalists in the room for Thursday morning’s state board meeting. In past months, Isett has prevented the station’s journalists, sometimes physically , from being in the room.
"Newsgathering is the lifeblood of free speech — the essential precursor to the dissemination of information and ideas that the public needs to form opinions, participate in democratic processes, and hold those in power accountable," Jones wrote. "Greenlighting a governmental attempt to restrict access to a limited public forum based on its unilateral determination that a news organization’s reporting is factually untrue amounts to an unworkable standard. Such a standard, indeed, would empower the government to act as the final arbiter of truth, chilling investigative journalism and suppressing dissenting viewpoints."
The restraining order granted by Jones is effective for two weeks. He said in the order that he would address KFOR's request for a longer term preliminary injunction in the future. He seemed to express exasperation during the hearing about the issue, saying, “What perplexes me about this whole thing is why we are even here."
KFOR and three of its journalists filed the lawsuit Monday and asked Jones for the restraining order. Central to the lawsuit is the allegation state officials are engaging in unconstitutional discrimination by arbitrarily deciding which media outlets can attend public events. The lawsuit seeks to prevent state officials from denying press access based on perceived legitimacy or viewpoint and to strike down any unwritten policies limiting media attendance. KFOR has been the only news agency kept out of the meeting room in recent months.
"(A)fter considering all written submissions, evidence, and arguments presented at today’s hearing, the court finds that KFOR is likely to succeed on its First Amendment claim," Jones wrote in his order.
He continued: "Defendants’ conduct in barring KFOR from attending OSBE meetings and denying access to press conferences — while allowing other credentialed media to attend — appears largely motivated by the viewpoint of KFOR’s publications. Though Defendants insisted today that the restrictions were imposed due to KFOR’s repeated publication of 'falsehoods,' even vaguely referencing several instances in support, the Court finds this justification to be little more than a ruse, masking an effort to punish a news organization for its editorial stance. This effort is particularly troubling given that the standards for what constitutes a 'falsehood' appear arbitrary and are determined by the very officials who are the subject of KFOR’s critical reporting."
Isett had no comment as he exited the courtroom Wednesday morning, but he did comment after Jones released his ruling, saying, "A judge can give KFOR privileges, but that doesn’t keep them from being fake news."
Walters, who’s also named as a defendant in the lawsuit, did not attend the hearing. Isett and Walters are being represented by the state agency’s top two attorneys, Michael Beason and Shannon Smith.
In his arguments, Beason initially cited security and space concerns as reasons for not allowing KFOR journalists into the meeting room — arguments Jones said he was “struggling to embrace” — then later accused the station of “deliberately outright false reporting” and saying that was another reason for keeping KFOR reporters out. Beason said KFOR reporters aren’t following a journalism code of ethics.
“We don’t take issue with the editorial stance (of KFOR),” Beason said. “We take issue with falsehoods.”
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Beason said KFOR had refused to address “false reporting,” at which point Isett — sitting in the gallery — nodded his head. Beason questioned the commitment of KFOR “to journalism and reporting and seeking the facts,” after Jones had noted, “Everyone’s version of the facts in this day and age is different.”
Beason told the judge a “committee” decided which news agencies could be represented in news conferences often conducted by Walters after monthly state board meetings. Asked by Jones to name the committee members, Beason said it wasn’t a formal committee but that it included Isett, Walters and the agency’s Texas-based chief adviser Matt Langston, who rarely attends board meetings but whom Beason identified as the agency’s “second-in-charge.”
Attorney Courtney Corbello with the Institute for Free Speech , which is representing KFOR and journalists Dylan Brown, Kevin Josefy and Gage Shaw, called Beason’s presentation “an admission of viewpoint discrimination” on the part of the state agency.
Afterward, Corbello called the hearing “one of the most interesting TRO hearings I’ve ever been a part of” and said she thought it went well for her clients.
“I think the judge understood that we don’t want to give our government officials that sort of power, to decide which reporters are reporting the right news, the true news, and which ones aren’t,” Corbello said.
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KFOR journalists hold press credentials issued by the Legislative Service Bureau, which is the credentialing agency for the state Capitol complex, on which sits the Oliver Hodge Building, where the state board meetings are held. Those credentials are renewed annually and accepted by every other state agency for access to government proceedings.
KFOR is owned by Nexstar Media Group , which owns nearly 200 television stations in the United States.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Federal judge issues restraining order requested by KFOR against Ryan Walters, spokesman
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