BRENTWOOD – The City Council decided Tuesday night that it needs more time to debate requiring local media to follow a certain code of ethics with a view to receive promoting or press releases.
The decision followed a debate concerning the First Amendment and her portrayal within the media, and a outstanding free speech organization warned her of possible legal consequences.
The agenda item discussed Tuesday night was a plan to “require media outlets where the city spends money on advertising or distributes the city's press releases to adhere to the Society of Professional Journalists' code of ethics.” However, a letter from the Society of Professional Journalists and the First Amendment Coalition said doing so would violate the Constitution.
“We want to inform you that your proposal to discriminate against news outlets is unconstitutional, no matter how well-intentioned,” the letter states. “Given the protections of the First Amendment, we expect the city to take no action on this proposal.”
The proposal in query was recommend by Brentwood Vice Mayor Susannah Meyer and Councilwoman Jovita Mendoza at a gathering on June 25, partly as a consequence of an argument in neighboring San Joaquin County. Last month, a grand jury there warned concerning the spread of misinformation by an area blogger who used his platform to “continually intimidate city employees and elected officials.” Both Meyer and Mendoza referenced that report of their transient discussion.
Mendoza and Meyer didn’t reply to requests for comment before the meeting.
The proposal also said that local media should publicly declare that they follow the SPJ's code of ethics.
David Loy, legal director of the First Amendment Coalition, said in an interview that each proposals involved litmus tests that the Supreme Court had flatly rejected.
“It's clear that they are using the power of public finance to retaliate against publications that don't do what they think they should do. This is a blatant attack on press freedom,” Loy said. “They would withhold advertising revenue from organizations that don't follow the government's required practices… the city cannot use this as leverage to force publications to do what the government wants.”
FAC and SPJ haven’t yet threatened legal motion against Brentwood, but have recently shown a willingness to take legal motion against local authorities. Earlier this month, each organizations filed a federal lawsuit against Alameda County for passing an ordinance that prohibits people from watching sideshows, arguing that the law could possibly be used to stop journalists from covering them.
After releasing public comments and debate on the problem, the Brentwood City Council decided that a subcommittee should further discuss the problem before making a choice.
Check back later for updates. The Brentwood City Council meeting live stream will be viewed below:
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