LINCOLN- A North Omaha-based, nonprofit news website is still waiting, and wondering, if it will be granted access to Gov. Pete Ricketts’ press conferences — more than a month after submitting applications for press credentials. The credentialing process was created in April after a NOISE Omaha reporter was denied access to a Ricketts press conference at the State Capitol because, a spokesman for the governor later stated, NOISE was “an advocacy organization funded by liberal donors” trying to appear as a news organization.

That denial raised concerns from other Nebraska news outlets and journalism professors, who pointed to court rulings that determined media cannot be excluded from access to government officials and events based on their perceived political viewpoint. Among those concerned was a national organization, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, which funds lawsuits over First Amendment issues.

“I don’t think it’s taken this long for other news organizations to get credentials. We never got any answers back,” said NOISE Omaha’s interim executive director, Myles A. Davis, who called the delay “a push off, run around.”

On June 15, NOISE submitted applications for credentials for its 11 staff members. A couple of days later, Taylor Gage, the governor’s director of strategic communications, emailed a response, thanking them for applying.

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