Arizona print and broadcast reporters soon will have a more difficult time keeping up with activities of state lawmakers because they are being ousted by month’s end from the state Capitol press room, Phoenix, where they have been located for more than 30 years, observes Grumpy Editor.
They are being kicked out of their first-floor Senate building location to make way for more meeting and office space for lawmakers.
“Reporters say that although the new space is within walking distance, it's not the same as working in a room that is steps away from hearing rooms, the Senate floor and lawmakers' offices,” reports Glen Creno of the Arizona Republic. “The current room puts the reporters right in the midst of the lawmakers, lobbyists and regular people that are the staples of political news.”
Moving the press room off the Capitol campus, as it is called, will keep the press at a distance and initially, at least, away from live closed-circuit TV feeds to keep up with legislative activity where 1,500 to 1,800 pieces of legislation move each year.
Creno notes Arizona Senate President Bob Burns, (R., Peoria), led the effort to move the press room, saying there are space and security reasons for doing so.
“The Senate press room is more than a place where reporters take phone calls and write stories,” points out Creno. “It's also a hangout for lawmakers, lobbyists, and candidates, a place where people swap rumors, argue issues, complain or talk up their causes.”
The Arizona Republic writer mentions that Senate President Burns says moving reporters “won't hinder coverage of the Legislature, noting that reporters would still be at the Capitol.”
That’s like covering the World Series from outside the ball park.
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