United States: Laura Belin Sues Iowa House Clerk for Repeatedly Refusing Accreditation
After withholding access for years, House grants press credentials after court case is filed
Location: United States, Iowa
Date: January 19, 2024Updated: April 2, 2024
After filing a lawsuit against the chief clerk of the Iowa House for rejecting her previous applications, Laura Belin has finally been approved for press credentials to report on House proceedings. Meghan Nelson, the House Chief Clerk, had consistently refused Belin access for five years. The Coalition For Women In Journalism and Women Press Freedom welcomes the decision but is bewildered by the prolonged denial of credentials. The fact that a lawsuit was necessary for the Iowa House to acknowledge the unjust treatment of the reporter is disconcerting. Despite fulfilling the application criteria and repeatedly seeking approval, credentials were withheld. We urge all government bodies to take note: journalists in the United States possess constitutional rights to cover matters of public interest. In an election year, it is imperative for state institutions to guarantee journalists' access to report on political affairs, thereby reaffirming their commitment to a free, fair, and transparent press – an essential element of any democratic society.
“To this day, I have never received an explanation from Nelson or anyone on her behalf as to how I do not meet the press credential policy," Laura Belin said in January, announcing she was suing House Chief Clerk Meghan Nelson . "Because of how the House Chief Clerk has applied her credentialing policy, I am unable to cover legislative proceedings on equal footing with my peers in the statehouse press corps.”
On April 2, 2024, Iowa state authorities consented to a settlement involving the payment of legal fees and modifications to the policies of the state House in response to Belin’s lawsuit.
For nearly three decades, Laura Belin has been a respected political reporter in Iowa, managing the political news site Bleeding Heartland and, more recently, serving as a Statehouse reporter for KHOI Radio in Ames. Despite her work, Belin was consistently denied press credentials by Iowa House Chief Clerk Meghan Nelson.
“Being excluded from the press area on the House floor was a serious impediment to my newsgathering,” Belin tells CFWIJ. “I didn't have easy access to legislators to ask clarifying questions about bills. I didn't receive materials distributed to other statehouse reporters about bills coming to the floor. In addition, I wasn't able to attend the House speaker's weekly briefings near the press box, where he often made newsworthy comments.”
Since January 2019, Belin has made repeated efforts to obtain press credentials prior to every legislative session. She has continuously shown how her independent online news site, Bleeding Heartland, meets the House’s stipulated requirements for press access.
Despite meeting the criteria for accreditation, Chief Clerk Meghan Nelson continuously denied each of Belin’s requests. The denials have been characterized by shifting requirements, initially claiming Belin was "not media," then branding her as "nontraditional" media, and now refusing without providing any explanation.
“It was frustrating to have the rules changed in an apparent effort to exclude me,” says Belin. “A peer who also operated his own Iowa news organization was able to get credentialed through a radio station. But after I started working part-time as a statehouse correspondent for KHOI Radio in Ames, Iowa, House leaders adopted a new policy, saying credentialed reporters had to be full-time paid correspondents.”
On January 19, 2024, the Institute for Free Speech, recognizing the gravity of this infringement on press freedom, filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Laura Belin against Chief Clerk Nelson.
“I felt I had no other options,” Belin explains. “I had already explained to the House Chief Clerk year after year that I complied with all of the points in their credentialing policy. She ignored those messages and continued to violate my First Amendment rights.” The lawsuit contended that Nelson's actions constitute an unconstitutional refusal to grant press credentials to a journalist who has adhered to the House’s published requirements for access.
Days after the lawsuit was filed, on January 24, 2024, Belin was finally granted press credentials to report on the House. After her victory, Belin thanked the Institute for Free Speech’s attorneys for taking her case, but lamented the fact that she ever had to file a lawsuit in the first place.”It's not complicated: government bodies can't limit access to reporters based on content published or viewpoints expressed.”
In recent months, CFWIJ has observed a troubling increase in press violations targeting journalists in the United States. State-imposed "gag orders" preventing reporters from engaging with state employees have prompted two lawsuits, one by Brittany Hailer in Pittsburgh and another by The Reporter newspaper in New York State. These cases shed light on the growing restrictions that states are imposing to curtail press access. Journalists possess the right to report on matters of public interest, and deliberately impeding their access is a violation of their constitutional rights. It undermines the press freedom principles that the United States professes to uphold.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism and Women Press Freedom welcomes the decision to grant Laura Belin press credentials and the decision by authorities to settle. Her years-long battle for access obstructed her ability to report and infringed on her rights as a journalist. We urge the Iowa House of Representative and all government bodies to ensure that press credentials are not weaponized to target journalists, and that all press receive fair access to report.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism is a global organization of support for women journalists. The CFWIJ pioneered mentorship for mid-career women journalists across several countries around the world and is the first organization to focus on the status of free press for women journalists. We thoroughly document cases of any form of abuse against women in any part of the globe. Our system of individuals and organizations brings together the experience and mentorship necessary to help women career journalists navigate the industry. Our goal is to help develop a strong mechanism where women journalists can work safely and thrive.
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