Augusta-Richmond County Sheriff Richard Roundtree held his annual media day on Nov. 16 to answer questions of the local press; however, not all local media was invited.
Specifically, The Augusta Press was not invited.
Prior to the event, Joe Edge, publisher of The Augusta Press, said he sent a formal RSVP and later received a letter from the Sheriff’s Office that stated The Augusta Press was not invited and the RSVP could not be confirmed.
[adrotate banner=”54″]
John Stone, publisher of the Lincolnton Journal says in his 30 year career as a journalist, he has witnessed the antics of politicians attempting to skirt around journalists who do not ask softball questions but has never seen an entire press organization barred from attending press conferences. In his mind, he said Roundtree’s actions violate the First Amendment.
“There are several questions that must be answered. Do you publish news? Do you publish daily? Do you have subscribers? If the answer is yes, then you are the press under the legal definition,” Stone said.
Stone says he finds it chilling that an elected sheriff would set such a precedent as to pick and choose which press organizations to cooperate with.
“The media is every bit a part of the process of public safety as the law enforcement agencies,” Stone said.
First Amendment attorney David Hudson, who is the attorney of record for The Augusta Press, agreed and said that Roundtree’s decision to bar legitimate journalists from press events and purposefully withhold information such as Be On The Lookout statements constitute a clear violation of freedom of the press.
“Thankfully, there is the recourse of the court system, and there is plenty of case law regarding these matters,” Hudson said.
[adrotate banner=”20″]
Calls made to the sheriff and his leadership for comment went unanswered. However, Edge said that he will not back down from what he called an elected official acting as a “tyrant.”
“This is not just an insult to our newspaper, it is an insult to the people in our community who pay to subscribe. We have had to take the city to court before, and we have won. It is a shame, though, that the taxpayers ultimately have to pay for such nonsense,” Edge said.
A transcript of the meeting obtained by The Augusta Press shows that most of the questions asked of Roundtree were broad and general and did not relate to policy.
One reporter did inquire about the inability of the press to get real time information from the Public Information Office, which is little more than a phone number that goes directly to a voicemail especially after hours. Roundtree dodged the question by responding that the telephone line was tied to dispatch.
A reporter with a local television station asked “what questions can the media ask so more information can be presented to the public?”
Roundtree’s response was for reporters to just keep asking questions and “keep chomping at the apple.”
Scott Hudson is the Senior Reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com
