First Amendment Abuse in Maryland

During the recent election, pundits - particularly those on cable news networks - questioned the long-term vitality of the print medium. Candidate endorsements by this country's newpaper editorial pages were deemed unimportant and ineffectual, if not quaint. Blogs, talk radio, and news infotainers were the vanguard of how news would be distributed in the future they said.

Evidently, Maryland's Republican governor Robert Ehrlich doesn't realize that newspapers are no longer relevant. He has decreed that Maryland state public information officers and members of his staff are forbidden to talk to columnist Michael Olesker and State House Bureau Chief David Nitkin, both of The Baltimore Sun. It seems the thin-skinned Ehrlich is upset that The Sun recently reported his administration's secret land deal in St. Mary's County. In the St. Mary's case, the state privately negotiated to buy 836 acres of an environmentally significant forest for Republican construction magnate Willard Hackerman, with the intent of selling it to him for the same price - with no appraisal.

The ban is in effect "until further notice."

Ehrlich has no trouble taking part in radio talk shows or starring in taxpayer-sponsored TV spots, but has tried to stifle open government in the past. Earlier this year, Ehrlich attempted to remove reporters from the Maryland State House and permanently reduce their presence there.

It's no secret that The Baltimore Sun's editorial page is no fan of Ehrlich. But Ehrlich - like all BCDs who whine incessantly about the "liberal media" - fails to grasp the very basics of journalism. Newspaper editorial pages, columnists like Olesker, and the newsroom represent three distinct and separate pieces of a newspaper. A wall exists between a newsroom and opinion writers. Ehrlich's blacklisting of the press has the effect of hurting his administration and the public as it becomes more difficult for reporters to get accurate information from key state officials. It makes Ehrlich look desparate, paranoid, and foolish.

The Republican noise machine has inculcated even elected servants of the people that they can bully and harangue those who scrutinize the activities and performance of Republican demagogues. This outrageous abuse of power and attack on the First Amendment will not be forgotten.

And if Mr. Ehrlich thinks he deserves less scrutiny than past Maryland governors, he is sadly mistaken.
K-