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Denish’s office puts news releases back online
Lt. Gov. Diane Denish (Photo by Heath Haussamen
Days after I reported that the office of Lt. Gov. Diane Denish had removed its archive of news releases from its Web site, the news releases are back online.
Today I discovered that the news releases are back on Denish’s Web site, archived all the way to 2003. You can find them here.
I’ve asked Denish Chief of Staff Joshua Rosen in an e-mail for comment, and you’ll read it here if I get one. Rosen said last week that the news releases were removed from the Web site on July 3 because they were “old news” and “archived” as part of “web site maintenance.” He said there was no political reason for removing the news releases.
The state GOP had other ideas. Denish is running for governor, and GOP spokeswoman Janel Causey suggested the news releases were removed to make it more difficult to scrutinize Denish’s past statements.
One more note: In last week’s story I reported that the secretary of state’s Web site doesn’t include archives of its news releases. Today, the secretary of state’s spokesman informed me that his office’s Web site includes archives dating back to 2008.
They’re located on a page with no direct link from the home page, but you can find them by clicking here. My mistake.
That means all statewide elected officials have at least some archives of news releases on their government Web sites.
Update, 5:10 p.m.
From Denish:
“I was recently made aware that press releases had been taken down from the official site. Upon learning this, I have directed my staff to repost these releases.”
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The points are; taking the truth out of circulation and why?
The press releases don’t take up space, they don’t clutter a website, they don’t get in the way. Yet they were taken down for some reason. In the absence of a good reason; they were taken down because they might prove to be a political liability at some point. They are public records; they were created by a public servant, on the public dime, on official letterhead. You don’t get to simply move them from a readily accessible place to one that is not readily accessible for no good reason.
I’m with Heath on this one; it makes a difference, it says something about Denish and her candor, forthrightness and honesty. And anyone who doesn’t believe that, doesn’t have to care. That doesn’t make it wrong for others to care.
The issue is Denish pretends she embraces a standard she doesn’t necessarily want to live up to. Never mind the press corp received these releases at one time or another. This is where the public can determine what their lieutenant governor stands for or against. To pull them down while campaign season is in full swing reeks of playing politics with her official office.
I can imagine that her campaign doesn’t like that some of the dumb things she’s said over the years are out there, but citizens still have a right to access the releases if they choose to. And if her past actions conflict with what she is saying in the present, that too could be valuable information for many folks who are trying to make a decision in the upcoming election.
Fearthelobos – Denish has claimed that she is for open and honest government. Hiding these press releases is not open government. In this state, where a term like “pay-to-play” is in the paper more than lobo box scores, transparency in government is important. New Mexicans are tired of politicians who say one thing then do another just to win an election. This example just illustrates that Denish is the same kind of politician we are tired of.
Heath – I think saying “issues of accessibility and transparency are very important” is like saying “breathing is very important.” First, “no duh.” Second, who would disagree with you? My point is that these are PRESS releases. They were presumably distributed to the press corps, which you’re a member of. So by virtue of their title, the purpose isn’t really for public consumption – they’re for you, the press. Sure most officials put them online, and I’m glad she has, but I think you’re making a little too much of this.
Oops, I think I didn’t understand whose press releases were available where correctly…I think Heath was saying Sec. of State releases were there and he didn’t originally note their location, not that Denish’s press releases were at a different location he didn’t originally note. So I got that part wrong.
Which is really my point here. Unless this is really something significant, it is easy to get bogged down in trivial details which take up time and energy while other more important issues are not covered… News releases archived or not, it’s not a story worth paying attention to imo.
I agree that this is an example of a “nothing story” that Heath is occasionally susceptible to, or originates himself…
Another example was the hyped up fuss about whether a city employee did a tiny bit of babysitting while T. Moore was working on the job. Of course that’s illegal, but it’s not significant relative to the whole gamut of reportable events. There’s an important difference to note between the two.
Making a mountain out of moehill on occasion devalues this site, and that’s a shame, because there is something important usually going on here.
If the body politic is to be effectively involved in ethical issues, they need the press to help by filtering the trivial from the significant. This is the trivial Heath…you say yourself the press releases were in fact available, you just couldn’t find it right away. But even if they weren’t, it’s not significant relative to other issues in the campaign, so if you are reporting on this, you are missing reporting on something more important which I visit this site to learn about. IMO.
Yes issues of accessibility and transparency are very important, but there’s a range, a spectrum of importance…all are not of the same “need to know” level.
I”m a financial supporter of this site, so it’s not as if I don’t appreciate the “watchdog” service Heath is providing, and I suppose we would want someone who errors on the side of overstating the case than the opposite. But optimally, the site would have the ability to judge and distinguish between important, and not all that important, or the cry of “Wolf” will eventually be ignored.
fearthelobos – I think issues of accessibility and transparency are very important. and martinez, like almost all DAs in the state, has no communications staffer (or contract employee) and doesn’t issue news releases.
Heath…is this really the most important thing going on in this race? And here’s a question, but: you’re a member of the press, so don’t you get her press releases sent to you? I think the voters are a little more concerned about the issues than what the candidates have on their websites. Speaking of which, I couldn’t find any press releases on Martinez’s website.