Chris Young’s EDITOR’S NOTE writes about the public’s right to access records from federal agencies and government transparency laws at both the federal and state level.

Young’s NOTE introduces the above mentioned story along with “…naming and shaming the worst.”

A few years back Ranch Matters (RM) contacted Nicole Vulcan, Editor in Chief of the Source regarding the retaliation and harassment heaped upon our journalistic request for records from the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST).

We contacted the Source thinking they would be interested in a story impacting local journalists.

We were wrong.

Holding government agencies, especially our local government agencies accountable to the public should be a primary concern of any news organization.

When powerful governmental agencies and corporation abuse their power, the media needs to be the watchdog-not a sleeping dog.

Thankfully, for Ranch Matters sake, the Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press intervened, along with the Oregon Attorney General’s Office. Their assistance clearly identified the rights of journalists seeking records from government agencies in the State of Oregon.

The story was informative and interesting, however, it would have been nice for there to have been a local hook explaining Oregon’s Public Records Laws and the Pros and Cons journalists/public face in our own backyard.

WHO IS THE REAL SOURCE?

RM reached out to the Source for a comment-

NO RESPONSE

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RANCH MATTERS CRR,LLC

JOHN STEVENS & DAVE STANGLAND