LaVarr: I just have to beg to differ with you on your analysis below.

As a longtime FOI advocate and journalist this isn't the first time I have heard this kind of criticism. However, I would expect this kind of analysis from a lawmaker, but was rather surprised that someone who has been a journalist would make such an assertion. Just because media owners and publishers take a particular position on any given issue, whether it be endorsing a candidate or opposing a ballot initiative, does that automatically mean that the reporting on that issue will be biased? I seem to recall that you and I were at the DNews when the paper editorially came out against pari-mutual betting. I covered debates and meetings about the issue and I was never told how to frame the story or not to cover all sides of the debate. Was your experience different than mine? During my time at the Deseret News I also served as the SPJ FOI chair for the Utah Chapter and on the national FOI committee. My editors were very careful not to have me cover the legislature because I was actively lobbying for open government issues there. I believe the Trib and others are taking the same kind of measures today. I have been in meetings where only an editor or publisher was present. Reporters have never been including in the lobbying effort. Here's an example from today's Standard Examiner which completely blows apart you assertion: http://www.standard.net/stories/2012/01/30/bill-would-protect-registered-voters-identity-theft If the media coalition monolith was controlling the news on this story there certainly would have been a different headline and it would have included nothing about Greenwood's arguments and all about how the big,bad media has given this bill a GRAMA Watch rating of "lights out." In the end, we probably wouldn't have the kind of open government we do if it weren't for the advocacy of publishers and newspaper owners. So I think there is a bigger role for publishers to take in this issue, but that doesn't automatically suggest a bias in reporting. Research by a BYU law professor suggests that both case law and statutory law for open government has largely been driven by news organizations involvement in the courts and legislatures. While some will say that this advocacy role in our society amounts to a narrow special interest, I believe it is more far reaching than that and is wrapped up in the reasons why our Founders felt it necessary to guarantee a free press. This is more than a special interest, it is the public's interest.

Best, Joel