is this broadcast censorship?

[Sid Schweiger]

>>A bar is also a public gathering place and to exclude the press strikes me as being just another liberty being stripped away.  Sounds like the USSR in the 60's.<<

Thank you.  At least one person gets it.

>>The owner of a bar can exclude anyone he/she wishes (as long as it doesn't violate discrimination laws), including reporters and camera crews.  The mayor's order is not directed at TV crews, but rather warns the bar owners that they risk their licenses if they allow TV crews in their establishments. This is much the same as the government requiring your ice cream stands to meet standards of sanitation and food preparation, in order to insure public safety.<<

Baloney.  A first-year law student could punch enough holes in that argument to make it resemble Swiss cheese.  The mayor's order serves no function other than to abridge the freedom of the press, and there are few clearer examples of exactly the sort of excessive use of government power intended to be remedied by the First Amendment.

Turning the Emerson student's death into an excuse to keep reporters away from certain places is another layer of grease on the slippery slope.  One of his cops accidentally shot and killed an innocent bystander, the press reported it, and now the PRESS must pay the price?  What is he afraid of, anyhow?  And what benefit accrues to him by making the press the scapegoat and ultimately the enemy?

He not only mumbles, but he's apparently discovered that his foot fits perfectly in his mouth.

Sid Schweiger
IT Manager, Entercom Boston LLC
WAAF-WEEI AM/FM-WQSX-WRKO-WVEI
20 Guest St / 3d Floor
Boston MA  02135-2040