Why a raid of a Kansas newspaper matters in Wyoming

Did you see the news recently? Did you pay attention to the attack on the First Amendment? It did not come from politicians or the government but rather from law enforcement.

According to a story from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and more than 30 news media organizations are condemning last week’s police raid of Kansas’s Marion County Record during which law enforcement officers seized the newspaper’s electronic newsgathering equipment and reporting materials.

The Reporters Committee reported, “According to news reports, the Marion Police Department executed a search warrant at the Record’s offices and at its publisher’s home last Friday as part of an investigation into allegations of identity theft and illegal use of a computer. The Record’s owner and publisher said the raid happened after the newspaper contacted the police department about information it had received from a source, suspecting that the paper was being “set up.”

Per the Reporters Committee, the “letter urges Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody to immediately return any seized equipment and records to the newspaper; purge any such records retained by the police department; and initiate a full, independent, and transparent review into the department’s actions.”

If you have not read any news reports you should. The newspaper had been doing research into two rumors about a public official and a business owner and ultimately opted not to publish stories on the matters.

They were raided anyway.

I do not have a fear of being raided by our local law enforcement but it does not mean that something like that could not happen here, depending on who is serving as chief, sheriff or mayor. Marion, Kansas, has a population less than Worland and Thermopolis.

Raids like the one on the Marion County Record are meant for one reason only — to intimidate and silence newspapers. It is an attack on our First Amendment, our rights for a free press and our rights for free speech.

So why does an attack on a newspaper matter?

Newspapers ask the tough questions, they keep governing boards honest. I have written before how sometimes boards need reminding about public records and public meeting laws. Those reminders are not just for us, but it is for you the public. Those laws are not meant only for the media, but they are for the public, to ensure the public’s business is kept public.

One sad note in the Marion County Record raid story is that the co-owner of the newspaper, Joan Meyer, was so upset by the raid at her home, at the age of 98, she died a day later.

Bill Garber, founder of Interlink, a newspaper circulation software company that the paper uses, sent out the following statement to everyone in the Interlink family, including us:

“When I read this story that you have no doubt also read, likely more than once, I thought of you. Each of you. Especially again in learning of the death of Joan Meyer, the 98-year-old co-owner following the raid on her house as well as the offices of the Marion County Record. Joan and her son Eric and staff are part of the Interlink family, truly one of us.

“In 1980 after degrees from two notable journalism schools, Michigan State University and Ohio University, and teaching for a decade along the way, I helped create Interlink to specifically bring essential technology to businesses bringing essential journalism to communities across America.

“What a journey! It is so inspiring to be here with you today as we rally together to support community journalism, in the face of the Marion County Record being attacked, and the loss of the 98-year-old co-owner Joan Meyer.”

What happened to the Marion County Record matters. It matters to you and me. An attack like that on a newspaper is an attack on the First Amendment and attack on our freedoms.

It matters.

-Karla Pomeroy,Northern Wyoming News