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As with most poorly conceived and vaguely written government policies, the city of Henderson’s new rule on speaking to members of the media raises more questions than it answers.
To whom does it apply?
The city manager? City attorney? City clerk? The mayor? A city council member?
A police officer at the scene of an accident? A union employee during contract negotiations?
What about a city parks employee who is supervising the annual Easter Egg hunt?
Is there a list of people who are approved to speak to the media? Or does one need to seek permission first? From whom?
Although a city spokesman — authorized, presumably — says the policy was intended to protect confidential information, that’s not what it says. There already are laws in effect to cover confidentiality. And confidentiality doesn’t extend simply to members of the media. You can’t tell your neighbor, either.
No, this kind of bureaucratic overreach isn’t intended as a muzzle on city employees. It’s intended as a shock collar.
Nobody really cares if an employee talks to a reporter — unless they say something wrong.
At that point, they want to have a policy on the books that says they can punish you. That, on its face, is an infringement of free speech.
The city spokesman says they don’t think anybody has ever been fired for talking to a reporter. But of course we wouldn’t know, because those kinds of things are ‘personnel matters’ the city considers to be private matters between a government employee and another government employee. Never mind the taxpayers.
But let’s not talk about firing somebody. Let’s talk about the other end of the spectrum — being written up, a note in the file, a comment on a personnel evaluation.
Has anybody been denied a raise or a promotion because he or she said something that a supervisor didn’t like? We wouldn’t know that unless, of course, the employee filed a grievance or spoke to a reporter about it.
Does it apply only when employees are on the clock? Does it apply when a reporter isn’t working on a story?
Can you avoid the policy by starting every phrase with, “I’m speaking for myself and not as an employee of the city of Henderson …”
Does it apply to social media? Does it apply if you’re speaking at a public meeting and a reporter is present? Does it apply if you decide to post a comment below the story on the Review-Journal’s web site?
What if the Review-Journal wanted to interview Henderson employees for a follow-up story to get their reactions to the new policy?
Consider the irony in light of the story about NFL player Marshawn Lynch who was required to speak to members of the media, or face a fine.
This is about control. It’s about trying to manipulate what employees say, and consequently what people think about Henderson. It’s about threatening to punish people for failing to toe the line.
As a result, it speaks volumes about how Henderson officials perceive their employees and the public. And it does so without anybody saying a word.
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