Thursday, May 29, 2008

The Media: County Ponders Who Can And Who Can't Attend Certain Meetings

By JOE GAMM - The Daily Astorian

Who would make the list? That might be the question on the minds of people who would hope to be considered "media" by the Clatsop County Board of Commissioners.The Board considered implementing a media policy in a work session Wednesday evening.Commissioner Jeff Hazen said he hoped to give people an opportunity to comment on the proposed policy, but nobody came to the meeting to hear the Board's considerations. But the Board intends to hold a public hearing concerning establishment of a media policy.Under Oregon law, reporters from media organizations that regularly cover agencies may sit in on executive sessions, although they may not report what happens there. The emergence of Web bloggers and other more fragmented media sources for news has raised questions statewide about whether local newspaper and radio reporters should be the only ones allowed to sit in on executive sessions.Commissioner Ann Samuelson said Columbia County had struggled with determinations of who qualifies as media....For Full Story Click On Title Above

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