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Forget the guacamole.
The Oklahoma Daily, student newspaper at the University of Oklahoma, received some good play for its story about a Jack White concert on campus mainly because they found a clause in the contract with some specific demands for guacamole.
And no bananas.
Those were the initial reasons the story went viral — entering the annals of weird band contracts — and then White’s management blacklisted the campus, and then White responded personally on his blog … and on and on.
But you should read the Oklahoma Daily’s ‘setting the record straight’ follow-up to find out what’s truly objectionable about the contract.
No photos.
That bothers me a great deal more than ‘no bananas.’ Because White’s management apparently wants to ban photos not only from the concert itself abut also in and around the venue.
A security guard, apparently for the university, tried to confiscate the newspaper photographer’s digital photos of people lining up for the concert. Press passes that were to be issued for the concert itself were denied.
All this, of course, on public property.
As I can’t resist a teaching moment, I must point out that Jack White has created a shining example of how routine, seemingly perfunctory open-records requests can turn into good stories.
It turns out that Jack White wasn’t just asking for guacamole, he was asking the taxpayer-funded university to assist him in thwarting freedom of the press as guaranteed by the First Amendment.
You should probably also read his entire screed to get a full appreciation of how little he understands about journalism, public records, truth and ethics.
You’ll probably notice he never points to anything in the story that was inaccurate. You may also realize, after reading Oklahoma Daily’s response, it made numerous attempts to get some explanation from White and his managers before printing any stories.
Good job, young journalists. Keep requesting public records. Keep writing about what you find.
Keep holding public figures accountable.
