Freedom of the Press? Not at the Polk County Democrats monthly meeting Inter-County Leader reporter asked to leave at start of meeting
ST. CROIX FALLS – Inter-County Leader Reporter Sarah Beth Radomsky was assigned by her manager, Inter-County Leader Editor Robert Tabern, to cover the monthly Polk County Democratic meeting on the evening of Thursday, April 11, at the St. Croix Falls Senior Center. Coverage was to include a presentation by Connor Burke, who serves as the Wisconsin Democratic Party Northwest Regional Director. This meeting was open to the public, and even featured in the “Coming Events” section of previous Inter-County Leader newspapers.
Reporter Radomsky spoke with guests and then had introduced herself to speaker Burke, who shared that he would be talking about how to have conversations with individuals in the community about Democratic messaging and persuasion tactics. Shortly afterward, co-chair Ann Turner abruptly stated that Burke was saying he “was unable to speak if a member of the press was present.”
After being informed by Radomsky that it was not a good practice to ask the press to leave a public gathering, Turner stated, “It was a long story,” and insisted that the press had to leave for the meeting to continue, offering to call with information about what was covered. Radomsky provided the group with an email for herself and Editor Tabern to keep records of future communications, and again reminded them that removing the press was “not good policy,” and “it was their coverage.”
With great irony, just prior to being asked to leave, Radomsky was complimented for her coverage of the prior month’s meeting by an attendee. Attending monthly party meetings in Polk and Burnett counties has been standard practice of the Inter-County Leader since Tabern began employment with the newspaper in July 2022.
Censorship is a growing issue in today’s media, and the press not being welcomed at a “open to the public” event is of great concern. At the Inter-County Leader, we pride ourselves in fair and unbiased coverage of the news, being careful to work to eliminate personal opinion from our articles, attend as many events as possible from various sides of the political spectrum, and be professional and courteous in the field. At other times, we have also gone to extra effort to even provide similar word counts to stories from opposing perspectives, different candidates, and attempt to be as balanced as possible.
The Inter-County Leader spoke with Democratic Party of Wisconsin Communications Director Joe Oslund on Friday, April 12, about the situation that occurred in St. Croix Falls. Oslund said he would “look into this situation,” but has not provided comment back as of press time.
