Why a raid of a Kansas newspaper matters in Worland, Wyo.

Did you see the news over the weekend? Did you pay attention to the attack on the First Amendment? It did not come from politicians or the government but rather from law enforcement.

According to a story from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and more than 30 news media organizations are condemning last week’s police raid of Kansas’s Marion County Record during which law enforcement officers seized the newspaper’s electronic newsgathering equipment and reporting materials.

The Reporters Committee reported, “According to news reports, the Marion Police Department executed a search warrant at the Record’s offices and at its publisher’s home last Friday as part of an investigation into allegations of identity theft and illegal use of a computer. The Record’s owner and publisher said the raid happened after the newspaper contacted the police department about information it had received from a source, suspecting that the paper was being “set up.”

Per the Reporters Committee, the “letter urges Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody to immediately return any seized equipment and records to the newspaper; purge any such records retained by the police department; and initiate a full, independent, and transparent review into the department’s actions.”

If you have not read any news reports you should. The newspaper had been doing research into two rumors about a public official and a business owner and ultimately opted not to publish stories on the matters.

They were raided anyway.

I do not have a fear of being raided by our local law enforcement but it does not mean that something like that could not happen here, depending on who is serving as chief, sheriff or mayor. Marion, Kansas, has a population less than Worland, Wyoming.

Raids like the one on the Marion County Record are meant for one reason only — to intimidate and silence newspapers. It is an attack on our First Amendment, our rights for a free press and our rights for free speech.

Many who read this editorial on a weekly basis know that I have championed the First Amendment. Noting that it is first for a reason.

I have done things like the Marion County Record, researched information from a caller, and weighed it with motives from the caller, whether the caller was anonymous, weighed the information against what could be substantiated by other sources and weighed it against the public’s right and need to know.

Some stories are published, some are not.

I have told many a reader over my 30-plus years in journalism that we do not publish rumors and innuendo, despite the fact that we would probably sell more papers.

I have been crosswise with public figures, even having one mayor tell me not to publish someone’s letters anymore (not here in Worland). He did not like the person’s opinion about things the city government was doing. I had to remind him letters to the editor were opinions and people had a right to their opinions whether they lived in the city or not and whether he agreed with them or not.

We ultimately agreed to disagree and at least he was able to vent.

I never felt threatened that he would retaliate in anyway.

I did have a county attorney, upset with an editorial I wrote years ago, refuse to grant any interviews after that and thus I had to wait for court records for all my information. He may not have wanted to talk to me, but he could not keep public records from me.

Even with him I did not fear any further retaliation.

So why does an attack on a newspaper matter?

Newspapers ask the tough questions, they keep governing boards honest. I have written before how sometimes boards need reminding about public records and public meeting laws. Those reminders are not just for us, but it is for you the public. Those laws are not meant only for the media, but they are for the public, to ensure the public’s business is kept public.

One sad note in the Marion County Record raid story is that the co-owner of the newspaper, Joan Meyer, was so upset by the raid at her home, at the age of 98, she died a day later.

Bill Garber, founder of Interlink, a newspaper circulation software company that the Northern Wyoming uses, sent out the following statement to everyone in the Interlink family, including us:

“When I read this story that you have no doubt also read, likely more than once, I thought of you. Each of you. Especially again in learning of the death of Joan Meyer, the 98-year-old co-owner following the raid on her house as well as the offices of the Marion County Record. Joan and her son Eric and staff are part of the Interlink family, truly one of us.  

“In 1980 after degrees from two notable journalism schools, Michigan State University and Ohio University, and teaching for a decade along the way, I helped create Interlink to specifically bring essential technology to businesses bringing essential journalism to communities across America.  

“What a journey!  It is so inspiring to be here with you today as we rally together to support community journalism, in the face of the Marion County Record being attacked, and the loss of the 98-year-old co-owner Joan Meyer.”

What happened to the Marion County Record matters. It matters to you and me. An attack like that on a newspaper is an attack on the First Amendment and attack on our freedoms.

It matters.

--Karla Pomeroy