LINCOLN- Gov. Ricketts pushed back in a press meeting Wednesday as his new media credentialing policy continues to be called unconstitutional and a potential pretext to exclude media outlets that don't share his same views. Many different media groups have called on the governor to revise the policy. Ricketts said the application for approval included only 'neutral' questions.

“Folks, at the end of the day it’s only a dozen questions. It probably takes less than 10 minutes to fill out. It’s not that big of a deal,” the governor said.

This state has never had a credentialing process in place before a North Omaha community news website had been denied access to media briefings. The reasoning behind this decision was that the website is an 'advocacy' group that was founded by 'liberal donors'. The application includes questions about how the organization is financed, if there is a clear distinction between editorials and news and if there is immense pressure from interest groups. According to critics, these questions are not neutral and would not hold up in court.

Media Nebraska and Ricketts are in talks about a new credentialing process.

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