Hoosier State Press Association - The Indiana Publisher
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/614013
Page 8 December 10, 2015 L ike a shot of caffeine, the 49th annual Newsroom Seminar gave me a positive jolt of energy. The event honors the excel lence of Indiana newspaper journalism – and there's a lot to honor. But I also get revved up just talking to reporters and editors who drove from all over the state through a thick morning fog Dec. 5 to make the seminar's first education al session at 8:15 a.m. It reminds me that journal ism is a calling. Reporters know they aren't getting rich, but they truly want to make their Indiana communities a better place to live through the stories they cover. The examples of dedication presented themselves to me everywhere I turned. There was the young woman who had driven to the event but mentioned she would be putting in an 18hour day because she would be putting in a full shift back at her newspaper that evening. There were the Ball State University journalism stu dents, fresh off receiving a National Pacemaker Award for their student newspaper, who stayed at the awards luncheon long after the Indiana Collegiate Press Association awards were pre sented to soak up the expe rience of their professional peers being honored. The questions asked of Indiana Public Access Counselor Luke Britt and me during our session on the state's public access laws showed that many reporters are pushing local officials to make available records so that critical questions can be asked about government deci sions. While Bob Zaltsberg, edi tor of The Herald-Times (Bloomington), and I read the winners in the numerous categories, I caught looks of surprise and joy when report ers heard their names called to receive an award. I had a long conversation in the morning with Bill Cannon of the Journal & Courier (Lafayette) on his staff's work to produce what turned out to be the HSPA Story of the Year Award winner. His pride in what had been accomplished and the differ ence it made in the public's perception of crime in his community was evident. The whoop of joy from the Daily Journal (Franklin) contingent when they real ized they had earned the Blue Ribbon Award for best daily newspaper in the state choked me up a little as I tried to read the judges' com ments on their work. Recent years have pre sented plenty of gloomy news concerning journalism and the future of newspaper operations, but the Newsroom Seminar reminds me why I feel so lucky to be associated with the Hoosier State Press Association and proud to be part of our journalism heri tage. You know, I did work at the Daily Journal for a few years, so I felt a little like a proud alum. Steve Key is executive director and general counsel for the Hoosier State Press Association. Key Points Steve Key Journalism heritage runs deep here The following questions came from the South Bend Tribune, Lebanon Reporter and The Herald (Jasper): Am I right that when we are notified that the court has redacted requested documents and indicate they are available, we can inspect them at no charge? Then if we want copies we can decide which documents we want to be copied and thus only pay for those, correct? Yes, there is no charge to inspect public records. You can always arrange with the court or any public agency to visit their office and inspect records, make notes from them, etc., without incurring any copying fees. As you said, you could then request copies of particular pages or documents and pay the copying fee for those pages only. What is included in the state access law that stipulates what must be listed in meeting minutes? The closest thing I'm finding is that the memoranda must include the date and time, members attending, record of votes and general substance of matters. We're finding that some of our officials' minutes are lacking. Minutes are not required under the Access to Public Records Act, so there are no requirements as to spe cifics in minutes. That's one of the reasons why I recommend reporters ask to inspect or copy the mem oranda. The memoranda must be taken during the meeting and is the least filtered account of what transpired. Another advantage to memo randa is that since it's created during the meeting, it should be available for inspection or copying the next business day, where minutes may not be pre pared for weeks. The city of Jasper is working with a developer to rehab a couple of abandoned factory buildings and turn them into rental housing. The city is contributing $410,000 to the project in various incentives and fund appropriations. That amount will allow the developer to get an optimal score for state tax credits from the IRS' Rental Housing Tax Credit Community Development Authority. The developer originally requested $400,000, which the city council approved. The developer, on the eve of the deadline, realized to get an optimal score, it needed $410,000. The company called the mayor, who polled the council- men by phone. None were opposed to the extra money. So the mayor, in the city's support letter, said the city would provide $410,000. That was on Oct. 31. The council, at its regular meeting on Nov. 18, formally voted for the extra $10,000. Did he violate the Open Door Law? And is it worth doing anything more than writing the city attorney to say "we know what you did?" I don't see an Open Door Law violation as you've described it. It appears the mayor polled the council either by email or phone calls/ conversations, which would not trip the serial meeting prohibition since it was all one onone. If it was via email and the mayor used the city email account, you could make a records request for the emails. His action assuring the developer of the additional $10,000 doesn't pose a problem because it would be assumed he was acting as an agent of the city. The council did what was correct – ratifying his action at a public meeting where they could have repudiated his commitment. Your beef if you decided to act on it would be that the process robbed the public of the opportunity to hear debate on the question, unless it could be seen in email exchanges. Contact Steve Key, HSPA executive director and general counsel, with media law ques- tions at skey@hspa.com or (317) 624-4427. HSPA Hotline A A A Q Q Q