Editorial

In Support of the Record, For the Record

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” So goes the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which was contained in the Bill of Rights and ratified on December 15, 1791. It guarantees freedom of religion, speech, and the press, and the rights of peaceful assembly and petition.

Last Friday, August 11, the office of the “Marion County Record,” a small 150-year-old family-owned weekly newspaper in Marion, Kansas, with a circulation of 4,000, was raided by the local police force and county sheriff’s deputies. The police seized computers, servers, and cell phones of the seven reporters and editors and went on to search the home of the publication’s owner and editor of 25 years, Eric Meyer, a career journalist and former professor at the University of Illinois, seizing his computers and router as well. The raids were the result of a complaint from a restaurant owner, who accused the newspaper of violating her privacy by illegally obtaining and disseminating sensitive information on a conviction against her. The Record, on the other hand, said it had obtained the information legally from a tip and used public online records to verify the details. Although it had a viable story, the paper decided against publishing it and instead contacted the police. The Marion chief of police defended the raid, but has issued no further details.

Unfortunately, this raid is not unique. Tensions between local newspapers and local law enforcement officials have escalated in recent years and there have been several cases in the not-so-distant past of local authorities taking aggressive actions against news organizations. Unfortunately, a number of these publications are part of a dwindling group of small, local newspapers that are struggling to hold their own local governments to account.

On Sunday, August 13, more than 30 news organizations, including “The New York Times,” “The Washington Post” and “The Wall Street Journal,” signed a letter from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press—an organization founded in 1970 to provide legal support and representation to protect First Amendment freedoms—condemning the raid, noting that both the raid and the seizure appeared unduly intrusive, and raising concerns that the execution of the warrant may have violated federal law that strictly limits federal, state, and local law enforcement’s ability to conduct newsroom searches. The letter urged the police chief to return immediately the seized equipment and records to the newspaper, purge any such records retained by the police department and initiate a full, independent, and transparent review of the actions of the police department. A lawyer for the newspaper demanded that the police department not review any information on the seized devices, which contained, of course, information from and identities of confidential sources.

The newspaper’s owner and editor, Eric Meyer, said his immediate concerns are to figure out how to publish next week’s edition. “The Freeman’s Journal” wholeheartedly supports Mr. Meyer and his Record. Freedom of the press, and the ability to publish reliable, well-researched, and well-informed news, whether it be for or against anything or anyone, is essential to a successful and flourishing democracy.