Chancellor Crystal Wise Martin filed the order Feb. 18 after the City of Clarksdale sought a temporary restraining order against the Clarksdale Press-Register newspaper. The paper published an editorial "Secrecy, deception erode public trust" in its Feb. 8 edition that criticized city leaders for what the paper claims was failure to notify media of a special called meeting to discuss a proposed 2 percent tax on alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana sales.
"We fully support the rights of the Clarksdale Press Register and all of our members to report on the business of local government and to offer editorial comment on their opinion pages," said MPA President George R. Turner, publisher of The Greene County Herald in Leakesville and The Richton Dispatch. "We support the Clarksdale newspaper's efforts to seek relief in this case and to have a terrible decision reversed."
"The press association feels this is an egregious overreach and that it clearly runs counter to First Amendment rights," said Mississippi Press Executive Director Layne Bruce.
Now in its 159th year and based in Jackson, Mississippi Press is the trade group for state newspaper and digital media.
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