Dear readers: On March 15, we shared with you that Pittsburgh Public Schools was holding invitation-only media briefings and that PublicSource was not on the invite list.
After discussing the problem with district leadership and many of you writing or calling to express your concerns, PublicSource’s K-12 education reporter TyLisa C. Johnson has been invited to each of the weekly briefings. (You can see some of the news from the briefings in our ‘By the Book’ bulletins.)
We, at PublicSource, believe that all media outlets in the area should have the opportunity to attend briefings by the district, a taxpayer-funded agency responsible for the education of 22,000 students — amid a pandemic, no less.
Attorneys for the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press agree. They sent a letter on March 30 to Pittsburgh Public Schools’ leadership, including the superintendent and the elected members of the school board, asking to review media practices to proactively address the potential that the invitation-only briefings could create unconstitutional content-based restrictions on First Amendment activity.
In the letter, they asked the district to respond by Tuesday, April 6, with any policies that govern the district’s interactions with the media.
The district has since acknowledged the letter and reached out to the attorneys at PNA and RCFP directly to discuss its media practices, district communications director Ebony Pugh told PublicSource in an email.
“...[T]he District used this as an opportunity to improve our strategies and procedures,” she wrote. “We are excited about their support and currently awaiting their input and examples of media procedures. Once received and reviewed, we plan to launch an inclusive inquiry to multiple media professionals for open dialogue and suggestions.”
We’ll be following this matter and keeping you updated along with continuing our in-depth coverage of K-12 education issues across Pittsburgh and Allegheny County.
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Sincerely,
Halle Stockton
Managing editor, PublicSource
[email protected]
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