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| Mo. restricts media access to prisoner interviews |
| By google.com |
| Published: 10/21/2009 |
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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri prison officials are restricting inmate access to the media, citing concerns over the cost of security for onsite interviews. A new Department of Corrections policy allows only one onsite media interview per week at each facility and also imposes new limits on the length, location and number of people involved in the interview. A copy of the new "external communications" policy provided Tuesday to The Associated Press says it is to take effect Nov. 5. But the department issued a news release Oct. 14 saying a new media policy was taking effect immediately. Director George Lombardi, who has led the agency since January, said the department has been inundated with interview requests from local, national and international media, although he did not have specific figures for the number of interviews or the costs associated with them. Department spokeswoman Jacqueline Lapine said the requests range from only a few to double-digits each day. Lombardi said guards must accompany inmates for interviews, meaning either fewer officers are watching the rest of the inmates or guards from another shift must be paid overtime to fill the gap. "I'm telling you that it was costing us a lot of money, and it was getting to be really problematic, and it was getting to be a safety issue," Lombardi told the AP. Read More. |
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