On April 27, a spokeswoman for Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee told Arkansas Times Editor Max Brantley that the weekly had been dropped from the official press notification e-mail list. "We don't consider the Arkansas Times a news organization," she explained. After the Times posted the statement on
its blog, it drew attention from other media organizations, and Huckabee posted a
long response on the state Web site attacking the Times and Brantley.
Earlier this morning, AAN sent Huckabee the following letter urging the governor to return Arkansas Times to the list.
May 4, 2006
The Honorable Mike Huckabee
Governor's Office
State Capitol Room 250
Little Rock, Arkansas 72201
Dear Governor Huckabee:
We were dismayed to read your statement yesterday in response to the
negative publicity your office has received since it purged Arkansas Times
from the e-mail list used to disseminate public information to the media.
The statement was littered with misinformation and was clearly intended to
divert attention from the real issues raised by your administration's
wrongful decision to ostracize the Times, a member in good standing of our
organization.
Contrary to your assertions, the journalists working at the Times are not
seeking "special treatment"; they are not asking for "personal notice with
every issuance of a press release or public schedule" or "every time (you)
conduct interviews with members of the press"; and they are not requesting
that you "call them whenever (you) happen to return a phone call from a
reporter or invite members of the media to a briefing on a particular
issue."
They are simply asking to be treated the same way that your administration
treats other news-gathering organizations that cover the capitol.
The Times -- an award-winning weekly newspaper with the fourth largest
circulation of all the newspapers in Arkansas -- has regularly received
e-mail alerts from the governor's office. These same notifications are
provided to other media outlets all over your great state. Your office
arbitrarily took the Times off the list last week and has yet to provide a
reasonable explanation for that decision.
It is clear from your derogatory comments about the Times and its editor
that you disagree with what the paper has written about your administration.
Despite your disagreements, however, as a public official you are legally
forbidden from blackballing the paper based on its political content.
By coincidence, our annual convention will be held next month in
Little Rock. We are hopeful that by the time we arrive you will have taken
the high road and put the Arkansas Times back on your official e-mail list.
Kenneth Neill
President
