TWN
THE WASHINGTON NEWSPAPER March 2019
Wyman to speak at TTT conference Page 3
Journal of the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association
Public records bill dead after one hearing
Eyes now turn toward Supreme Court; oral arguments set for June 11 A bill to carve broad exemptions from the Public Records Act is dead after one hearing, and arguments that the Legislature should be subject to the act now move to the Supreme Court. Michele Earl Hubbard, attorney for the media organizations that last year sued the Legislature, said the court will hear oral arguments in the case at 1:30 p.m. July 11. Each side will have about 20 minutes to argue their case. There is no estimate as to when the court will issue its opinion, but opinions are usually released at 8 a.m. on Thursdays. The court posts on Wednesdays opinions that may be released the next morning. People interested in receiving an email notice
can sign up for notification on the Supreme Court’s website. The bill to largely exempt the legislature, SB 5784, sputtered to an early death after testimony Feb. 13 before the Senate State Government, Tribal Relations & Elections committee. Rowland Thompson of Allied Daily Newspapers and the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association testified in opposition, saying, “We would rather lose the case than have this bill.” Democratic lawmakers cited testimony from Thompson and other media representatives as a deciding factor in not pursuing the bill. “This bill is a nonstarter, there’s noth-
ing to even work with,” said Senate Majority Leader, Andy Billig, D-Spokane. Members of the Legislature last year attempted to rush through a bill in two days without public comment to exempt themselves from the act after a Thurston County Superior Court judge ruled that the legislature was subject to the Public Records Act and had not been in compliance for years. That attempt sparked an avalanche of emails, phone calls and letters from the public in opposition to the bill. Ultimately, Gov. Jay Inslee vetoed the law. WNPA reporter Emma Epperly contributed to this report.
Seattle Weekly ends 42 year run in print
Registration now open for Legislative Day 2019
The following note to readers was written by Sound Publishing President Josh O’Connor following the decision to stop publication of the Seattle Weekly as a print product: After more than 42 years, Seattle Weekly will print its final edition Feb. 27. The paper was founded in 1976 by local journalism legend David Brewster. Early in its life, Seattle Weekly hit the sweet spot. The paper celebrated Seattle at a time when Seattle was still an
See SEATTLE WEEKLY, Page 2
Rowland Thompson
One of Seattle Weekly’s “Best of Seattle” issues from Aug. 2016.
Allied Daily Newspapers of Washington and WNPA descend on Olympia Thursday, March 14 for this year’s Legislative Day. Online registration is now open at wnpa.com. Scroll down on the home page and click on the Legislative Day tile to begin the registration process. You can register for all or part of the Legislative Day activities. The program is tightly packed this year so please be on time. The day starts promptly at noon in the Senate Rules Room, located in the Lieutenant Governor’s Office in the Administrative Building. A brown bag lunch will be served.
There, we will hear from Legislative leaders from the House and Senate from noon to 1 p.m., statewide elected officials including Lt. Governor Cyrus Habib and Attorney General Bob Ferguson from 1 to 2 p.m., and from agency directors from 2:45 to 3:30 p.m. Agency directors include State Patrol Chief John Batiste and Department of Revenue Director Vikki Smith. Following the briefing, participants will move to the Temple of the Justice for a reception hosted by Supreme Court Chief Justice Mary Fairhurst. Other Supreme Court
See OLYMPIA, Page 2