By: Mark Glennon*
Obstructing reporters who cover the government is perhaps the last thing we need, so it’s no surprise that the Illinois General Assembly does just that.
Capitol Illinois News reporters are not allowed access to the floors of both the Illinois House and Senate, which is allowed for most news media. The Illinois Times had a great article this week on why that’s wrong, titled “Free Capitol News Illinois.”
Founded in 2019, Capitol News Illinois, has been a valuable addition to Illinois media. It’s a nonprofit, funded by foundations, providing news articles on state government that are now extensively printed by local publications that cannot afford to have their own Springfield reporter. It’s typically just-the-facts on basic things happening in state government, and it does that well. I’ve rarely detected any bias one way or another, and we link routinely to their work.
Ostensibly, the reason legislative leaders deny credentials to Capitol News Illinois is that it is affiliated with an interest group, the Illinois Press Association, which employs lobbyists.
But that’s flimsy, and inconsistent with how much of the media is treated across the country despite stronger connections to lobbying operations. The Washington Post, for example, is owned by Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s controlling shareholder. Amazon has a massive lobbying effort with the federal government as well as huge contracts with it. CNN is owned by AT&T. NBC is owned by Comcast. The list goes on and on. And nobody blackballed the Chicago Sun-Times when it was owned by labor unions. It’s still partly owned by unions, though controlling ownership changed in 2019.
The true reasoning behind blocking Capitol News Illinois, as the Illinois Times wrote, is an attempt to be consistent with the legislature’s reasons for denying press credentials to the Illinois Policy Institute, namely, their affiliation with a lobbying group. The Illinois Policy Institute is conservative, which was no doubt a bigger reason why lawmakers wouldn’t want their people on the floor with them. Barring them because of their lobbying affiliation probably seemed to some like a plausible reason at the time.
But when you create a rule based on a flimsy rationale you set a bad precedent and get irrational results, which is clearly what’s happening here. Capitol News Illinois is as legit as any news organization and should have full access.
The Center Square, by the way, is also denied access to the House and Senate floors. Its editorials are conservative, but its news reporters play things separate and straight. It, too, provides news articles to local outlets and it, too, should have full access in Springfield.
*Mark Glennon is founder of Wirepoints.
Audio and summary 
If this bill passes, say goodbye to local control over all Illinois parks and expect to see open drug and alcohol use, needles, no sanitation and fire hazards, but no ordinary park users.
When your government doesn’t want you to know what they are doing, then it might be time to get rid of that government, regardless of party.
If only Illinois voters would vote for principle over ideology and graft.