A Mississippi judge has ruled the State Legislature is not a "public body" under the state's Open Meetings Act, a decision allowing lawmakers to hold secret caucus meetings.

The decision comes after the Mississippi Free Press sued to open these meetings to the public, in the name of transparency. The case originated when the nonprofit paper filed an ethics complaint after one of its reporters, Nick Judin, was barred from attending a closed Republican caucus meeting in the House of Representatives.

Donna Ladd, editor and CEO of the Mississippi Free Press, called the ruling a blow to open government.

"About the way this is worded, to me, is a technicality that allows them -- when they want to -- to get around the idea of public transparency," Ladd observed. "So, it's kind of status quo, and especially in a state where -- I mean, let's just be honest -- much of Mississippi's history has been one-party rule, one way or the other."

In the ruling, the judge stated the Open Meetings Act applies only to "executive or administrative bodies," not the Legislature itself. Supporters of the ruling argued political caucuses are internal party matters and privacy is essential for candid discussions.

Rob McDuff, director of impact litigation for the Mississippi Center for Justice, argued on behalf of the Mississippi Free Press that caucus meetings should be open under the Open Meetings Act, as they involve a quorum of the House discussing public business. However, McDuff explained the Ethics Commission and Chancery Court ruled against them, with the judge citing a narrow definition of "public body."

"That just seems quite nonsensical when you think, of course, the Mississippi Legislature is a public body in Mississippi," McDuff pointed out. "But the wording of the particular statute, the Open Meetings Act, is what led him to that conclusion."

The ruling means journalists and the public cannot hear the debates shaping policy. While advocates for open government said the fight is not over, the decision sets a troubling precedent for transparency nationwide. As Free Press Editor Donna Ladd warned, "Don't think that it can't happen in your state."


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By Ilana Newman for The Daily Yonder.
Broadcast version by Kathleen Shannon for Big Sky Connection for the Public News Service/Daily Yonder Collaboration

A new study from the LOR Foundation, an organization focused on rural community development, maps local news outlets in Montana to provide a look at demographics and gaps in coverage. Efforts to map local news have become popular in states like Colorado, Nebraska, Minnesota, and beyond.

Mapping local news provides valuable information about where the coverage is lacking and helps funders identify places most in need of support. Daniel Read, research analyst at the LOR Foundation, said the study matters because "data can drive action towards places that are typically underserved by local media or just underrepresented generally in the media landscape."

Read spent two months calling people in Montana to inquire about their local news environment for the study. This included "the librarian and the county clerk, and maybe the manager of a history museum, people who were just likely to pick up the phone," said Read, as well as, contacting every obvious news source. By reaching out to local leaders embedded in the communities, they were able to identify local news sources that might not be obvious from an internet search.

"If they're providing original local news, we wanted them included," Read said. "We were very agnostic to the medium that was being provided." This means they included radio stations that primarily play music but might also include news and podcasts providing original reporting, like Hello Whitefish, a long-form podcast out of Whitefish, Montana.

LOR did not include sources like Reddit, Facebook, and civic news sources like a local chamber of commerce newsletter. Read said that they could see doing another study looking at these more social versions of news, which can be a primary source of information for rural communities without many traditional news sources.

When asked how many of Montana Broadcaster Association's (MBA) members were in rural areas, Dewey Bruce, president and CEO of MBA, replied, "In Montana, everything is rural." He went on to say that not including the top seven media markets in Montana - made up of the seven statistical areas of the state - around 70% of their members are in rural areas.

Even the biggest metropolitan markets are smaller than most states. Billings, the largest city in the state, has a population of around 120,000.

There were only five counties out of Montana's 56 counties with zero local news sources, most of which have less than 1,000 residents. However, Toole and Liberty counties, both news deserts, have a combined total of nearly 7,000 residents and zero news sources. The study also found that counties with larger populations, higher median incomes, and more private businesses supported more news.

"Rural places are often the places that are most underrepresented...they're the places that are most likely to be a media desert, a local news desert," Read said.

Jim Strauss, director of communications and development for Montana Newspaper Association, said that Montana residents are worried about consolidation - papers being bought by national corporations - reduced coverage, and closures that are happening around the state.

"Nothing can replace the local boots on the ground. You have to have local reporters in the community. And because of the financial challenges that some news outlets face, unfortunately, that number has been on the decline"

Strauss said that one thing they are currently paying attention to is the transition of ownership of local publications. Many newspaper owners are aging out and Montana Newspaper Association is working to support these legacy outlets as they transition to a new generation of management.

"It's really hard work to run a weekly newspaper or a small radio station," Strauss said, "We're finding it more difficult to attract people to take over those properties, and that's one of our challenges."

A Long-lasting Newspaper

One successful story of a transition of ownership took place in Choteau, Montana, a town of 1,714 on the east side of the Rocky Mountains.

Melody Martinsen was 24 years old and working at the Great Falls Tribune when she got a call from the owner of the Choteau Acantha, Dick Nordhagen, who wanted Martinsen and her husband to buy the paper, which was founded in 1894. That was in 1990 and the Martinsens have run the paper ever since.

The Martinsens have kept the paper pretty much the same as it was 35 years ago. "We haven't changed our core mission ever," said Martinsen. They have two other reporters and a few additional staff and put out a weekly print newspaper as well as providing online breaking news coverage.

"We are going to give our readers news that they can't get on Facebook or social media," Martinsen said. "We're going to cover city council meetings, county commissioner meetings, school board meetings, airport board meetings, library board meetings, cemetery board meetings, water and sewer district board meetings."

The Acantha is the paper of record for Teton County and has 1,400 paid subscribers, in a county of 6,400. Advertising is a significant part of their revenue stream, as has been traditional for print newspapers because they have been able to keep their local subscriptions strong.

"Local journalism sheds light on a community's problems and helps bring solutions to those problems," Strauss said. "A more informed local community is going to be better in the long run as it recognizes and solves its challenges."

Having strong support from their readership has been a lifeline for the paper. On January 7, 2025, the Choteau Acantha building caught fire. But because of support from the community, the Martinsens "didn't miss a beat". They published the paper the following week as they always have.

"Our community has been beyond amazing. I'll start to cry if I talk about how amazing they've been," said Martinsen. They were offered multiple spaces to use as temporary offices, were donated furniture and a new phone system, and the elementary school held a penny war to raise money for the paper.

Strauss and the Montana Newspaper Association are working with the University of Montana's journalism program to try to get more reporters in rural communities. One initiative is engaging high school students with the local papers in their communities and providing scholarships and internships.

"While there's endless ways we can get national news, in much of Montana, there are very limited ways that we can get local news. So sustaining and building that voice is of greater importance than ever," Strauss said.


Ilana Newman wrote this article for The Daily Yonder.


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A former community organizer and newly-elected lawmaker is responding to the Trump administration's escalating attacks on the press with a proposed law to strengthen privacy protections for New Mexico journalists.

Rep. Sarah Silva, D-Las Cruces, said House Bill 153 is needed to replace a state statute last updated in the 1970s before the internet, email and cellphones. With the Trump administration targeting journalists as "enemies of the state" for reporting the daily news, she stressed it is important to reinforce a reporter's privilege to protect their sources.

"Given the current state of affairs at the federal level, I want to do as much as I can to protect journalists here in New Mexico from the threat of subpoena or some sort of civil case," Silva explained.

In recent weeks, major media outlets including ABC and CBS have entered into negotiations or agreed to pay huge settlements over court cases brought against them by Trump. Others have lost assigned spots in the White House press area. Meanwhile, the Federal Communications Commission has launched a funding investigation into the Public Broadcasting System and National Public Radio.

Silva, who is married to a journalist, said she modeled the bill on the federal PRESS Act, proposed legislation which failed to pass the U.S. Senate last year after then President-elect Trump assailed it on his social media site.

Silva's bill would bar the executive branch or New Mexico's administrative agencies from obtaining a subpoena to force journalists to identify their sources or to disclose unpublished information they gathered for a story.

"As a community organizer, I really relied on journalists in the field to be covering issues like immigration reform for closures," Silva recounted. "They were helping move the needle on really important issues or they were revealing problems that the organizer needed to know about."

The bill includes some exceptions against protecting journalists, including terrorism investigations or when an imminent threat of harm exists.

In the last days of President Joe Biden's term, senators are tackling some of their highest priorities, like confirming judges. But that may also include passing a bill to protect reporters and their sources.

The Protect Reporters from Exploitative State Spying Act would provide a federal shield law for a reporter to protect the identities of their sources.

Lucy Dalglish, former dean of the Merrill College of Journalism, said the bill would protect all types of journalists, from independent reporters to those at mainstream publications.

"It covers more than just traditional, mainstream media journalists," she said. "It covers folks, such as ones who are working for this radio network, and others who regularly collect information, digest it in some way and disseminate it to the public."

She added the bill also bans investigators going to telecommunications or other internet companies to see who a reporter has been in contact with. Right now, 49 states and Washington, D.C. have a shield law or some legal precedent on the books.

In January, the legislation unanimously passed the House of Representatives. But last week, the bill failed after Sen. Tom Cotton, R-AR, objected to its passage. The only way now for the bill to pass Congress is if it is attached to another piece of legislation - or if the Senate has a stand-alone vote on the bill.

Dalglish said it's sometimes surprising how administrations vary in their subpoenas of reporters. For example, she explained, many thought the subpoenaing of reporters after 9/11 would stop with a new president. But Dalglish said President Barack Obama and his justice department accessed the phone records of more reporters than any other president.

"And you get more subpoenas during different times in history, what's going on in society. It hasn't been too bad lately, but it goes in spurts," she said. "And of course, we really have no idea what's going to be going on in this new Trump administration."

A slew of press freedom organizations support the proposed law, including the Society of Professional Journalists and Reporters Without Borders.


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