The U.S. Forest Service is restricting media coverage in wilderness areas, forcing reporters to pay for permits and obtain permission to ply their trade. Permits cost $1,500 and failing to get one could bring fines of up to $1000. “The Forest Service needs to rethink any policy that subjects noncommercial photographs and recordings to a burdensome permitting process for something as simple as taking a picture with a cell phone. Especially where reporters and bloggers are concerned, this policy raises troubling questions about inappropriate government limits on activity clearly protected by the First Amendment,” said Senator Ron Wyden, D-Oregon. (The Oregonian, September 23, 2014, by Rob Davis)
A Seattle Times editorial accuses the Forest Service of prior restraint, forbidden under the First Amendment and connects the new rule on photographing in wilderness areas with the lack of transparency in the Obama administration. The editorial cites the pursuit of whistleblowers leaking news to journalists; Obama’s failure to grant interviews with the press; censoring of daily “pool” reports; and the alleged “politically tinged screening of public-records requests.” (Seattle Times, September 26, 2014)