I have covered the Utah Legislature since 1999 for various media outlets in the state. Despite that quarter-century history, the Republican controlled legislature denied my application for a media credential to cover the 2025 session.
The process for obtaining a press badge is typically a formality. Applicants must pass a criminal background check by the Utah Highway Patrol, then have a House or Senate staffer sign off on the application.
On Tuesday, I easily passed the background check, but was informed that, since Utah Political Watch was a new organization, approving a press credential required more scrutiny.
"We have to look it over for a bit," Alexa Musselman, House Communications Director, said. "I'm going to go touch base with others, then we'll give you a call."
I asked whether the same level of scrutiny was applied when Utah News Dispatch applied for press credentials for the 2024 Legislature. That organization began publishing in November 2023 and was issued credentials for several reporters.
"We did have conversations with them," Musselman said, but added she did not know the extent of those talks since she was on maternity leave at the time.
Utah Political Watch launched in September and has requested a single press badge.
After a 90-minute wait, that request was rejected.
"Utah Capitol media credentials are currently not issued to blogs, independent, or other freelance journalists," an email from Musselman and Senate Deputy Chief of Staff Aundrea Peterson said.
The policy for approving credentials was quietly revised last month, shortly after I had reached out to ask about adding Utah Political Watch to the Legislature's press release distribution list and the timeline for applying for a 2025 press badge. That email was sent on Nov. 5. The metadata for the revised media credential policy says the document was created on Nov. 24.
Legislative staffers did not respond to a request for a copy of the previous media credentialing policy. They also ignored emails asking when the changes were made, who approved them, and how they defined "blog" and "independent media."
The rejection comes after Peterson objected to a story published by Utah Political Watch last week about complaints filed over Senate President Stuart Adams's campaign spending disclosures.
"As someone who claims to be a journalist, it鈥檚 disappointing to see such a lack of professionalism," Peterson said in a text shortly after the story was published. "Your story is not only misleading; it is factually inaccurate."
Later that day, Adams authored a social media post attacking the story and me personally that included similar language to the revised media credential policy - referring to Utah Political Watch as a "blog," and claimed I exhibited a "pattern of neglectful journalism." The post was breifly published on the official Utah Senate Facebook and X/Twitter pages before it was taken down and moved to Adams' personal social media.
In that post, Adams claimed that his campaign spending "was accurately reported and in compliance" with state law. That assertion is untrue. Emails between Adams and the Lt. Governor's office reveal that at one point he was given inaccurate information about disclosure requirements, but was ultimately informed that his disclosures were not in line with Utah state law. Adams has not responded to a request that he remove his inaccurate post and apologize.
This is just the latest crackdown from the increasingly media hostile Legislature. In 2022, lawmakers banned reporters from accessing the House and Senate chambers. Previously, journalists were allowed to briefly speak with lawmakers on the floor before the session began, then leave. Journalists were also banned from accessing the hallways outside the chambers and the House and Senate lounges. Lawmakers also approved new restrictions on where media members could be during committee hearings.
In 2018, Republicans attempted to ban journalists from the House floor, but abandoned the plan. However, they approved a new requirement that journalists undergo anti-harassment training before they're issued media credentials.
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