Spotlight on Sill’s “no comment” column

(Readers Please Note: This post is intended to provide additional information for people reading the post: Journalist offers “unsolicited advice.” If you came here before reading that post, I ask that you go to Journalist offers "unsolicited advice" and read until you get to a link which will bring you back here. You'll know it when you see it. Thank you. John)

In a recent column titled, Governor's position? No comment , Raleigh News & Observer executive editor for news Melanie Sill complained about North Carolina public officials and others people she feels don’t make themselves available to N&O reporters and herself for interviews and don’t provide information The N&O wants.

Here’s part of what Melanie said:

The latest example is Gov. Mike Easley’s absence from a story by Barbara Barrett on Sunday. Barrett was writing about several former convicts whose sentences had been overturned, now waiting for Easley to decide on their requests for “pardons of innocence.” Barrett’s requests for an interview with Easley were denied, and official spokespeople provided little real information. In the end, we were not able to answer the obvious question about why the governor (who has sole authority under the constitution to issue pardons) had not acted on the requests.

At the time Melanie wrote that, she had in hand an email sent to her by the Governor’s press office.

Here’s part of the email(A full-text copy is in the middle of this post: The editor, the Governor, and we, the readers):

In the past month, the Governor has had at least six public events in the Raleigh area where he has been available and has made public comments about a variety of issues. The News & Observer staff has been made aware of these events and they have all been open to your reporters. As you and your reporters know, the Press Office staff routinely works with reporters who would like to ask “off-topic” questions at public events and attempt to accommodate them whenever possible. For example, Matthew Eisley spoke with the Governor regarding the bonds for the N.C. Art Museum at last Thursday’s Bill of Rights ceremony. Furthermore, Ms. Barrett was also at the event and had the same opportunity to ask the Governor questions as did Mr. Eisley.

Ms. Barrett contacted the Press Office requesting an interview for her story on pardons mid-afternoon on Monday and claimed that she had a Wednesday deadline. She was given all the information that she requested about the process and the status of the cases in question. Subsequent questions also were answered after her stated deadline. Because of the ongoing negotiations with the legislature over the budget, the Governor’s schedule simply did not permit a one-on-one interview with her.

Other than Ms. Barrett, I am not aware of any recent requests by reporters at your paper for interviews with the Governor on any topic. Your assertion that the Governor does not comment on “public policy matters” is simply not accurate.

When Melanie wrote her column, the email from the governor’s press office had not been made public. It only became public three weeks after Melanie’s column appeared when I posted on the column and email in the post I linked to above. So at the time they read it, the only things N&O readers knew about the email was what Melanie reported to them in the last two paragraph’s of her column.

Here are the two paragraphs:

While working on this column, I sought to hear Easley’s side of things. I put in a request to interview the governor or his representative on Monday afternoon, noting I was on deadline. The response? No interview with the governor or anyone else. Instead, I received a lengthy email statement from Cari Boyce in the governor’s press office saying that our reporters are free to chase down the governor at public events (as they do as often as they can) and ask him questions.

Thanks, Ms. Boyce, but that’s not what I asked.

If you’ve read The editor, the Governor, and we, the readers you know I asked Melanie four questions beginning with why she hadn’t made the email available to her readers and ending with:

Is your reporting on the email and Governor Easley and his staff a fair example of how N&O staffers report on public officials and their staffs?

Although I sent Melanie multiple emails inviting her to respond to my questions, I've heard nothing back.

I know of no written comment Melanie has made about her reporting on the email.

In addition to her duties as executive editor for news at Raleigh’s News & Observer, one of North Carolina’s two largest daily circulation newspapers, Melanie Sill is a leader in state and national journalism organizations. She is a strong supporter of Sunshine Week, a nationwide effort by journalist to get government to be more open and accountable.

EASY RETURN TO: JOURNALIST OFFERS “UNSOLICITED ADVICE