Santa Ana Officials Back Off on Restricting Photojournalists After Backlash

Santa Ana officials are backing distant from restricting wherever photojournalists and residents tin instrumentality pictures and videos during nationalist meetings astatine metropolis hallway pursuing pushback from the Voice of OC, writer organizations and a salient First Amendment rights group.

The pushback came aft metropolis officials softly implemented a argumentation without a nationalist ballot successful 2023 restricting wherever journalists and members of the nationalist tin instrumentality pictures and movie metropolis assembly deliberations. 

Following the criticism, metropolis officials directed unit up of the predetermination past twelvemonth to travel backmost with changes to the media argumentation to marque it much flexible depending connected however crowded the assembly chambers are during meetings.

[Read: Will Santa Ana Officials Minimize Photographer Restrictions astatine City Hall?]

On Tuesday, officials voted unanimously to amend their rules and procedures for assembly meetings to see new guidelines connected filming, photographing and signaling nationalist meetings – wherever officials make argumentation and laws that interaction the prime of beingness of residents.

“This is the authoritative component,” said City Manager Alvaro Nuñez astatine Tuesday’s meeting. “This is the ceremonial argumentation that we’ll beryllium following.”

The caller guidelines besides reaffirm that nether the state’s unfastened gathering instrumentality – the Brown Act – anyone has the close to movie oregon grounds a nationalist gathering arsenic agelong arsenic determination is nary persistent disruption to the meeting.

They besides clarify that assembly members volition find if determination is simply a “persistent disruption” to the gathering done a bulk vote.

The guidelines nary longer inquire journalists to movie and photograph from designated areas oregon portion seated successful the audience. 

They inactive prohibit radical from blocking aisles, entrances and exits of the assembly gathering chambers.

But present it is careless of whether they’re filming oregon photographing a nationalist gathering oregon not – a alteration requested to Tuesday’s connection by Councilwoman Jessie Lopez.

“When you’re adding ‘while signaling of photography and oregon filming the metropolis assembly meeting’ is unnecessary. It really benignant of brings america backmost to the archetypal contented of, again, having thing that is targeting media and I’m not successful enactment of that,” she said.

Lopez besides questioned if a argumentation was adjacent indispensable to reaffirm authorities law.

Councilman Phil Bacerra said the argumentation volition assistance aboriginal assembly members navigate akin issues erstwhile it comes to persistent disruptions of meetings.

“I privation to marque definite that it’s arsenic elemental and casual to work and understand,” helium said.

Lights, Camera, Action: Filming a Santa Ana City Council Meeting

Credit: Carlos Conde

Prior to Tuesday’s meeting, the city’s media policy called connected members of the nationalist and the property to film, photograph oregon grounds metropolis assembly meetings portion seated, not standing.

It besides called connected radical utilizing tripods and “large video cameras” to movie the nationalist meetings from designated areas marked disconnected with reddish tape.

The argumentation besides banned attendees from filming and photographing meetings successful the aisles adjacent to walls oregon successful beforehand of doorways for information and entree reasons and allowed immoderate elected authoritative to halt idiosyncratic from filming the gathering if they deemed it to beryllium a disruption.

It remains unclear however the media argumentation archetypal came astir successful Santa Ana.

Councilman Benjamin Vazquez antecedently told the Voice of OC that City Attorney Sonia Carvalho said the argumentation came from her office.

City unit denied a Voice of OC nationalist records petition past twelvemonth for each physics communications betwixt Carvalho and metropolis assembly members arsenic good arsenic betwixt Carvalho and metropolis spokesperson Paul Eakins regarding the media policy.

“The disclosure of specified responsive records is exempted oregon prohibited pursuant to national oregon authorities law, including, but not constricted to, the provisions of the Evidence Code relating to privilege arsenic specified records contained accusation taxable to the Attorney-Client privilege regarding communications and enactment product,” read’s the metropolis denial for the records.

What Are Santa Ana Politicians Trying to Hide?

City Hall successful Santa Ana.

The media argumentation successful Santa Ana sparked disapproval from a assortment of organizations and section newsrooms since it archetypal surfaced astatine the extremity of 2023. 

Voice of OC’s Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Norberto Santana Jr. criticized the city’s media argumentation successful a file past twelvemonth implementing a argumentation to protestation the photograph restrictions by not sending photojournalists to screen authoritative meetings, alternatively publishing a cartoon to travel quality sum of assembly meetings. 

[Read: Santana: Politicians successful Santa Ana Don’t Want Residents To See Them Up Close]

Todd Harmonson, a Senior Editor astatine the Orange County Register, besides sent an email to metropolis officials past twelvemonth asking them to revise the argumentation dictating wherever journalists tin seizure photos of nationalist meetings.

“The city’s argumentation mightiness beryllium intended to assistance the nationalist successful immoderate way, but it really hurts the citizens of Santa Ana by limiting and adjacent dictating however stories that are important to them are told,” reads Harmonson’s Sept. 23, 2024 letter.

“The existent media argumentation leaves the content that the City Council has thing to hide.”

News outlets weren’t the lone ones to rise concerns astir the policy.

California’s First Amendment Coalition, the Orange County Press Club, and different journalism groups besides condemned Santa Ana’s media policy successful a December 2023 missive – arguing that it violates the state’s main unfastened gathering law, the Brown Act.

In effect to the December 2023 letter, Lopez, Vazquez and Councilman Johnathan Hernandez posted connected Instagram stating the media argumentation was crafted without “proper ineligible vetting” and encouraged the filming and signaling of nationalist meetings.

Hosam Elattar is simply a Voice of OC newsman and corps subordinate with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him astatine helattar@voiceofoc.org oregon connected Twitter @ElattarHosam.

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