CINCINNATI (CN) Assurances from the city of Memphis it has no plans to return to an email listserv to notify media members about press releases and upcoming events were enough to convince the Sixth Circuit a reporter’s First Amendment were properly dismissed by a federal judge.
In a decision released only three days after the case was argued, a three-judge panel of the Cincinnati-based appeals court found no reason to reinstate a lawsuit filed by Wendi Thomas, founder and editor of MLK50: Justice Through Journalism.
The suit was premised on claims Thomas had been blackballed and removed from the city’s listserv after coverage critical of Mayor Jim Strickland, who had also refused her interview requests.
Beale Street in Memphis, Tenn. (Image by Bruce Emmerling from Pixabay via Courthouse News)
CINCINNATI (CN) The city of Memphis blackballed a reporter after she was critical of its mayor and then refused to put her on the city’s media advisory list
in violation of her First Amendment rights, the reporter told a Sixth Circuit panel Tuesday.
Wendi Thomas, founder and editor of MLK50: Justice Through Journalism, sued the city, Mayor Jim Strickland and spokeswoman Ursula Madden in May 2020 after they refused to respond to repeated requests for placement on their media advisory list.
The list is used to notify members of the media about “events and activities involving the city,” and while MLK50 was on the list for a period of time, Thomas says her email address was removed at some point after Jan. 20, 2019.