Burke School Board action against The Paper raises First Amendment questions

In an unprecedented move, the Burke County Board of Education unanimously voted Monday to revoke The Paper’s special media access — a decision the newspaper’s legal counsel says violates the First Amendment and punishes protected speech.

The board cited “misleading, inaccurate, or distorted information” in previously published stories and alleges The Paper harmed the board and the entire community

by repeatedly publishing

inaccuracies.

The statement did not include any specific examples from the 57 Board of Education stories The Paper wrote and published this year.

“The Burke County Board of Education has determined that The Paper has not met the basic expectations of accuracy, integrity, and professionalism required for enhanced media access,” the Statement reads. “… We cannot allow any outlet to use special access to further distribute information that is knowingly misleading or harmful to the public trust.”

“The Paper rejects the Burke County Board of Education’s characterization of our reporting. I see their ‘statement’ not as a defense of transparency, but a punishment for scrutiny,” said Angela Kuper Copeland, The Paper’s executive editor.

“Differential treatment of media outlets by a public body raises serious First Amendment concerns, particularly when access is granted to other news organizations covering the same public institution,” she said. “We stand behind the objectivity of our news stories, the integrity of our staff, and how we cover our public institutions, including the school board and the district schools.”

During the Monday evening meeting, Superintendent Dr. Mike Swan pointed to an article published Dec. 6 and headlined, “Declining enrollment puts Burke Schools on track for layoffs, bigger classes.”

The article referenced 2.4% as the amount the school district would lose in state funding. That percentage instead is the State of North Carolina’s overall projected revenue decrease. Swan also added that the school district had not discussed the possibility of layoffs, though many comments made by the staff and board in the Dec. 2 public work session alluded to that very thing.

Swan presented eight slides of what he titled, “Addressing Inaccuracies.” The slides covered layoffs and budget impacts — topics included in the Dec. 6 article — as well as items not covered in the Dec. 6 article, such as birth rates and economic development.

After Swan’s presentation, each school board member took turns reading sections of the prepared statement before voting unanimously to restrict The Paper’s access.

Other than the statistic in the Dec. 6 article, neither the superintendent nor the board cited any other alleged errors during the meeting.

The Paper has published 57 articles directly referring to the Burke County Board of Education so far this year.

In a later interview with The Paper, Board Chairwoman Tiana Beachler said that Vice Chairman Jamey Wycoff has a collection of The Paper’s stories that he says contains errors.

“Mr. Wycoff has the file,” she said. “I know that he’s been combing through it today. It very much exists … They’re on the hard drive. He can furnish those if you want to ask.”

The Paper attempted to reach Wycoff by phone and email on Thursday. He did not reply by the print deadline Friday.

The Paper’s legal counsel, Raleigh-based Stevens, Martin, Vaughm & Tadych (SMVT) said, “The Burke County Board of Education’s decision to, and stated rationale for, revoking The Paper’s special media access privileges and reserving that access for so-called ‘media partners who meet reasonable professional standards’ in retaliation for constitutionally protected speech violates the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, The Paper’s right to Free Speech and Free Press, and other rights enumerated by the North Carolina Constitution.”

SMVT went on to say that the board’s statement and its decision are motivated by an intent to punish The Paper for its coverage and editorials and that such retaliation in response to protected speech is plainly unconstitutional.

“We will continue to attend public meetings, file public records requests, and report on decisions that affect students, parents, employees, and taxpayers,” Copeland said.