Question: Is it a good idea to bar the press from attending certain aspects of your annual conference?
Answer: No.
The Public Broadcasting Service has been hit with what it considers minimal controversy over its practice to close professional development sessions at its annual conference to members of the press. This year's conference started June 21 in Dallas.
Stu Kantor, director of corporate communications for PBS, Alexandria, Va., said the policy to bar members of the press from those sessions has been in place for the past few years because some attendees of its conference said they didn't feel they could be as open at these sessions - of which there are dozens -while reporters were present.
Kantor said other aspects of the conference, including the keynote address and other general sessions, are open to reporters and editors.
"First and foremost this a meeting for attendees and we want to facilitate the work of those attendees," Kantor added.
At least one publication, Communications Today, wrote a story about the PBS policy. Kantor also said press contacts, with the exception of two trade reporters at Current and Public Broadcasting Report, haven't questioned the policy and seem to understand the reasoning behind it.
Of those two reporters, Kantor said PBS is now considering whether one journalist's request to attend some of the closed sessions will be granted and that another journalist hadn't forwarded (by June 18) any special requests to have PBS rethink if it will open the doors to some of the sessions.
Overblown or not, PBS as well as other organizations should realize that even though there are no Freedom of Information or Sunshine laws that can be levied so reporters can gain access to these sessions, it raises some red flags when you invite journalists to cover something and then tell them that certain parts of a conference or gathering will be closed to them.
Reporters and editors who cover government may expect that kind of treatment - not trade journalists who are trying to keep track of industry trends and issues. Trust us, the minute you tell a reporter or editor they can't attend something, that's the minute they'll want to go. Even if other journalists understand the policy, we don't think it's wise media relations to bar journalists from events and conferences that are typically open. (PBS, 703/739-5000)