Buying access? Texas Senate grants media status to Empower Texans

My first hurdle today, one of some height, is making the case that this isn’t an intramural skirmish in which you have little at stake.

Here’s the fact: The Texas Senate has granted a media credential to Empower Texans, a conservative political organization that doesn’t seem to fit the Senate rules definition of media organization.

To make my case as to why this is a bad precedent that should concern you, I have to make sure you understand what I and my news media colleagues do for a living on your behalf and how the Senate media credential helps us do that.

We cover what your government does. The closer we can get to it, the better. The House and Senate media credentials get us into the chambers and give us ready access to the men and women making your laws. Since getting to the Capitol in 1979, I’ve found that some of those men and women don’t want to talk to us in the chambers or in the adjacent halls. But many do, finding it a good way to help explain what’s going on and why they voted a certain way. (FYI, the rules bar us from interviewing lawmakers in the chambers. But it’s a good place to ask them to go just off the floor to talk.)

Read more: https://www.statesman.com/news/20190111/herman-buying-access-texas-senate-grants-media-status-to-empower-texans