(The Center Square) – Gov. J.B. Pritzker and his press secretary backed down in the face of a legal challenge from a Chicago-area broadcaster after barring her from the governor’s news conferences.
Salem Media and AM 560 broadcaster Amy Jacobson filed a lawsuit against the governor in federal court on June 1. On Tuesday, Jacobson claimed victory in the matter after her access to news conferences was restored.
“Jacobson may participate fully in the Governor’s press access, including but not limited to press briefings and conferences, to the same extent that any other media is allowed to participate,” Assistant Attorney General Michael Dierkes wrote in June 15 letter to the Liberty Justice Center, the nonprofit legal firm that represented Salem Media and Jacobson.
In a letter sent on behalf of the governor, Jacobson “is eligible to participate in the Governor’s press access on the same basis as other journalists … Jacobson may participate fully in the Governor’s press access, including but not limited to press briefings and conferences, to the same extent that any other media is allowed to participate.”
Liberty Justice Center President and co-founder Pat Hughes said it was a win for public accountability.
“Gov. Pritzker’s ban on Amy Jacobson was a complete overreach and he’s right to walk it back. The governor may not like when journalists ask tough questions and he may not always agree with their coverage, but Americans have a constitutional right to hold their elected officials accountable. One of the most important ways they do this is through a free and vibrant press,” Hughes said in a statement.
Jeff Reisman, regional vice president and general manager of AM 560 The Answer, said the company was satisfied.
“We’re happy that she can finally get back to doing what she does best – asking the questions that are on the minds of so many in our audience,” he said in a statement.
Last month, the Pritzker defended the decision to bar Jacobson from news briefings after she attended and spoke at a rally in Chicago focused on reopening Illinois.
“Look, when you’re standing up at a rally, where people are taking a political position, holding up Nazi swastikas, holding up pictures of Hitler and taking an extreme position as she did, it strikes me that that’s not objective in any way,” the governor said. “It’s not the way you act, it’s not the way that your colleagues in the media act, who are reporters.”
Jacobson denounced two racist signs on Twitter that she saw at the rally.
“That is not a reporter,” the governor said. “She represents a talk show that has a particular point of view, we allowed her to ask questions because once upon a time she was a reporter, but she proved that she is no longer a reporter.”
