KFOR cites four instances since March of being denied entry to State Board of Education meetings and instead required to sit in an overflow room. It also alleges Isett barred the crew from attending the press conferences Walters provides after each meeting.
The suit alleges Walters and Isett violated First Amendment rights to free speech and press, and engaged in viewpoint discrimination against the news outlet. It seeks a court order to prevent officials from barring KFOR access to meetings and press conferences.
The suit references a July 31 after-meeting press conference in which Isett tells KFOR reporter Dylan Brown the conference is a “privilege for press” and agreed when photojournalist Kevin Josefy asked if Isett was saying KFOR was not a “legitimate news organization.” It also alleges Isett placed his hands on Brown to turn him away from the door.
According to a video also referenced in the suit, Isett again physically intervened when Brown attempted to follow Walters at the State Capitol to ask him questions on Aug. 16. The suit asks the court to enjoin officials from “physically obstructing, touching, or impeding [KFOR]’s reporters.”
Tulsa World photojournalist Mike Simons photographed a similar situation at the press conference following the Aug. 22 board meeting. In a post on X, Simons said Isett told him he didn’t think KFOR was a “legitimate news organization.”
On Aug. 23, the Society of Professional Journalists issued a news release condemning the moves to block KFOR. SPJ reports Isett responded in a statement, saying the department “will not work with tabloids who consistently editorialize and report false information rather than inform the public.”
KFOR holds press credentials that allow staff access to the Capitol Complex, including the Department of Education’s Oliver Hodge Building.
Brown said in a news release from the Institute for Free Speech, which is partially representing the station in the suit, he has never been given another reason why KFOR has been excluded.
“If KFOR-TV cannot provide reporting on the events that occur at OSDE board meetings or Walters’ press conferences to its audience, members of that audience will inevitably seek out that information from other media sources whose reporters are allowed to attend those events,” Brown said in the release. “This loss of viewership would be an additional harm to KFOR-TV and myself as a reporter.”
In a statement to StateImpact, Isett said it was “no surprise that the liberal media refuses to be held accountable,” and KFOR “has shown a reckless disregard for the truth.”
Isett alleges the station falsely reported on a “nonexistent federal investigation” into the department, and KFOR staff “followed people into the agency’s bathrooms” in “at least one instance.” Isett did not immediately respond when asked to provide more details about his allegations.
“At no time has KFOR ever been disallowed any access to the agency given to any member of the general public,” Isett said. “And this lawsuit has no more credibility than some of its news stories.”
The next State Board of Education meeting is Thursday.
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