SCOTUSBlog Press Pass Not Renewed: What You Need to Know

SCOTUSBlog made headlines yesterday when they publicized that the press pass for their Supreme Court reporter, Lyle Denniston, was not being renewed by the Senate Press Gallery. The outlet announced this news in a letter to their readers both on their website and via an email blast to followers. As the Supreme Court usually defers to the passes granted by the Senate Press Gallery, this means that SCOTUSBlog’s ability to cover the Court will be limited as well.

The entire thing seems incredibly confusing, so here is a quick, simple breakdown:

• The Supreme Court does not issue its own credentials. Instead, it usually defers to credentials issued by other branches, such as Congress, or the White House.
• A Senate Press Pass is important to a publication like SCOTUSBlog because it allows them to sit in on nominations, and other important Supreme Court related decisions, such as budgeting.
• After years of trying, SCOTUSBlog received a Senate Press Pass last year.
• The Supreme Court still denied them credentials, stating that they were reviewing their policies.
• The Senate Press Gallery has now also revoked that pass from SCOTUSBlog.
• Credentials are approved for the Press Gallery by the Standing Committee of Correspondents, currently composed of Siobhan Hughes, Chairwoman, Wall Street Journal; Peter Urban, Secretary, Stephens Media Group; Colby Itkowitz, Washington Post; Kate Hunter, Bloomberg; and Emily Ethridge, CQ/Roll Call.
• In the meantime, SCOTUSBlog does have one reporter is who accredited through another news affiliation, and will continue to cover the Court through public seats.
• SCOTUSBlog has said that they will appeal the rejection, and “litigate the issue” if necessary.

All in all, the entire issues seems surprising and incredibly odd, considering that the outlet has, in fact, won numerous awards for their coverage of the Supreme Court. 

SCOTUSBlog has had a history of struggling with the credentials process for a varied hodgepodge of strange reasons. According to Joe Keenan, who headed up the Senate Press Gallery in 2012, SCOTUSBlog  “failed to show that they were separate from the law firm,” that the founders, Tom Goldstein and Amy Howe, practice at and were rejected that year. 

SCOTUSBlog tweaked their processes and policies to become eligible for that press pass that is now not being renewed.

As of press time the Senate Press Gallery staff are not commenting, and neither SCOTUSBlog nor the Court has yet responded to my request for comment.

As of yet, no one can do more than speculate as to why the credentials will not be renewed by the Senate Press Gallery, but a quick read of the policies seems to indicate that the requirements for credentials are outdated, at best. The Senate Press Gallery’s credentials page states that credentials are available, “‘to bone fide correspondents of repute in their profession’ who are full-time, paid correspondents of recognized news organizations.” The policies go on to state how the reporter must be part of a company whose principal business is the dissemination of news and cannot be involved in another special interest.

There’s nothing in these policies that indicate why SCOTUSBlog would not qualify for the press pass, unless those policies were being interpreted from an antiquated point of a view. I’m just speculating here of course, but my point is that unlike these policies seem to require, news and journalism aren’t cut and dry the way they used to be. A blogger can provide newsworthy content alongside a full-time job. A journalist can viably work for free while making money through other sources. In this Internet age of free information and ready dissemination, our identities are not mutually exclusive. Here at Law Street, that rings true for so many of us — I am both a writer and a student, and my form of writing does not take the traditional format that it could have before the Internet. If I’m right, the press credentials process needs to be changed to reflect the evolution of our journalistic system.

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Anneliese Mahoney (@AMahoney8672) is Lead Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

Featured image courtesy of [Rogers Cadenhead via Flickr]

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.