Off The Beat: The Briefing Before the Briefing
Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle invited all media to attend a briefing on his first city budget Wednesday. But the city’s top officials gave one news organization the benefit of a day’s head-start covering the budget. Carlisle and Managing Director Doug Chin sat down with Honolulu Star-Advertiser reporters and editors for a on the budget Tuesday.
News of the meeting emerged in a Star-Advertiser Wednesday, about the same time the public briefing ended.
Strange, for an administration that has promised transparency. Typically, embargoed briefings — or preview briefings — are done to give news organizations time to explain complex topics. But it’s hard to figure how it makes sense for a politician to favor one private business over its competitors.
At a minimum, it gives the impression that the administration is currying favor.
By the way, the mayor’s office declined Civil Beat’s request for an embargoed copy of the budget, and the mayor and managing director declined Civil Beat’s requests Tuesday evening to discuss the budget a day early. We wonder what other news outlets made similar requests and were also turned down.
Read more at Off The Beat: Buzz in the Civil Beat Newsroom .
