Do Arizona Journalists Have To Show Their Papers?

Access to legislatures is critical to journalistic coverage of government — at least if government is to be accountable and democratic. So it caused a stir when Arizona House Speaker David Gowan (R) banned reporters from the floor unless they passed extensive background checks.

Gowan had become upset when an Arizona Capitol Times reporter revealed in a story that Gowan had misused some $12,000 in state travel money. He used his power as speaker to require reporters pass background checks — using standards that would have disqualified the reporter who did the travel-money story. Before getting credentials, reporters would have checks run on their driving records, prior addresses, civil judgments, and criminal records. The standards specifically mentioned a check for trespassing charges within the past five years. The reporter, Hank Stephenson, had pleaded guilty to a Class 2 trespassing misdemeanor in 2014.

In an April 7 Tweet, Stephenson said it was the third time Gowan had tried to kick him out of the capitol — an effort that started the day after the embarrassing story ran.

• "House Speaker Suspends His Ban on Media Background Checks," Capitol Media Services/Arizona Daily Star, April 12, 2016, by Howard Fischer.
• Opinion: "''No One Fooled' By Gowan's Retaliation Against Reporter," Tucson Sentinel, April 9, 2016, by Dan Barr (First Amendment Coalition).
• "Trigger Warning: How To Cover Speaker Gowan So He Feels Safe," Tucson Sentinel, April 8, 2016, by Blake Morlock.
• "Arizona House Leadership to Reporters: Show Us Your Papers," Mother Jones, April 7, 2016, by AJ Vicens.
• "Journalists Cry Foul Over Arizona State House’s New Limits on Access," Huffington Post, April 8, 2016, by Daniel Marans.