Chamber closes gubernatorial forum to media

By Aaron Gould Sheinin

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Many of the Republicans and Democrats who want to be the next governor of Georgia met on Thursday to discuss the state's future at a candidates' forum sponsored by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce.

But what was said there is apparently a secret as the chamber denied requests from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and other outlets to cover the panel discussion at the Ritz-Carlton at Reynolds Plantation, which sits along Lake Oconee and is owned by the Reynolds family, one of the most powerful Republican families in the state.

The closing of the forum to the media prompted protests from the AJC and other publications that are part of the Georgia Newspaper Partnership. Thirteen daily newspapers from around the state have joined together to cover this year's elections.

Chamber spokeswoman Joselyn Baker said Wednesday that it is the chamber's "standard policy" to close board meetings to the media. Baker reiterated that policy to the AJC on Thursday.

Yet, at a forum Wednesday before the chamber board for candidates for attorney general, a reporter for the Fulton County Daily Report was allowed to cover the discussion. When asked why that forum was seemingly open and the governor's forum was closed, Baker responded that Ed Bean, the editor for the Report, was the moderator at the attorney general's forum, so his reporter was allowed to cover it.

Underscoring the situation, however, was the fact that at the attorney general's forum, one Democratic candidate apparently questioned whether the Voting Rights Act is still necessary. Voters have no way of knowing if a similarly newsworthy statement was made by a candidate for governor.

In an e-mail to Baker and to the gubernatorial campaigns on Thursday, Bert Roughton, managing editor of the AJC, called the move to close the gubernatorial forum "outrageous."

"Have Georgia politicians not heard the powerful desire voters have to be included in deliberations that can set the course of their government? Apparently not," Roughton said in the message.

Chris Carpenter, campaign manager for former Gov. Roy Barnes, a Democrat now seeking another term, said Roughton was correct.

"In a time when Georgians and Americans are losing confidence in their government and institutions, we should have more transparency," Carpenter wrote. Barnes, he said, "has always had a policy of openness. So, it was a lapse in judgment for Governor Barnes to attend a public forum that shut out the people. ... It will not happen again."

Several campaigns said they were unaware the forum was closed.

Sen. Jeff Chapman (R-Brunswick), a Republican candidate for governor, said he was dismayed the press was excluded.

"I got there and I was thinking, ‘Good grief. A political forum can't even get the press here.' Apparently they weren't invited," Chapman said.

Jeff DiSantis, campaign manager for Attorney General Thurbert Baker, a Democrat now running for governor, said Baker hopes that in the future, "all organizations hosting candidate forums and debates will allow media access. It's the right thing to do."

Other editors joined Roughton in slamming the chamber's decision.

In a message to the gubernatorial candidates, Statesboro Herald executive editor Jim Healy asked, "How many times today will you utter the phrase ‘The people of Georgia ...' as a preface to whatever issue you address at the Lake Oconee debate sponsored by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce? That will ring a little hollow, don't you think, since only a select few Georgians actually will hear your remarks?"

In a similar message, Savannah Morning News executive editor Susan Catron asked the candidates to remember the need for transparency in government.

"If all of you truly are running to serve the citizens of Georgia, it would seem you'd want to do that by ensuring each of them had access to your views on issues pertaining to them," Catron wrote. "Closing this event and others like it sends the signal you will neither value nor trust the opinions of the citizens you wish to serve."

It wasn't just journalists who were concerned by the chamber's decision.

Lee Echols, an Atlanta-based crisis management expert who has worked with former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young and the Atlanta Olympic organizers, wrote to the chamber that it was a mistake.

"Of all organizations which host a political forum, the Georgia Chamber of Commerce should know better than to exclude the news media," Echols wrote to Joselyn Baker. "How come? Because 99.9999999 percent of Georgia voters are not attending your debate. I am one of them. And none of us will know what the candidates discussed, what questions were asked or if any issues which concern me and my family were mentioned."

Echols called the decision "wrong on every level."

In other responses, candidates said they are running open campaigns and are accessible to the media.

"Nathan appears at forums nearly every week that are open to the media, and we always welcome the media's interest because we want as many people as possible to know that Nathan Deal is the only candidate with a specific economic plan for creating jobs in Georgia," said Brian Robinson, spokesman for former U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal, a Republican candidate for governor.

Likewise, Ben Fry, spokesman for Republican gubernatorial hopeful Eric Johnson, a former state senator, said his candidate "doesn't miss an opportunity to talk about his plans to put Georgia back to work. If the chamber wants to have another forum that is open to the press, he will gladly participate in that as well."

Terry Dickson of the Georgia Times-Union contributed to this article.