Consider harm of records access

As a journalist, I don't disagree with your call (Gazette editorial, March 29, “Shine light on public radio”) for more open government. But Iowa Public Radio's situation is, indeed, “complicated,” if not by its quasi-public status, certainly by its journalistic status.

In pushing IPR into the corner of “more government accountability,” which your editorial seems to do, you are also opening the IPR newsroom to a potentially paralyzing situation. That is, given the nature of news, news sources, confidentiality of sources, and sensitivity of journalistic notes and records, we should be very mindful of what harm might be caused to IPR's journalistic mission by suggesting IPR is subject to open records laws.

I realize you are not seeking access to newsroom records, but I worry about the unintended consequences of your pursuit of board records.

Michael V. Marcotte

Chair, Ethics of Entrepreneurial and Innovative Journalism, University of Nevada