Missouri Senate moves media off floor after tweets

[Sherman A1]

JEFFERSON CITY — Missouri senators ordered journalists off the Senate floor Thursday after some lawmakers complained their private conversations had been tweeted.

The Senate voted 26-4 to move reporters to a visitors' gallery overlooking the chamber in Jefferson City. Starting March 29, journalists will no longer be allowed at their longtime, 10-seat table near the Senate dais and the desks of several senators. Photographers will still be allowed on the Senate floor.

Senate President Pro Tem Ron Richard says he initiated the move because some reporters had violated the Senate's trust in recent years by tweeting private discussions and negotiations they overheard on the Senate floor.

The Senate floor is "our space, that's not your space," Richard, a Republican from Joplin, told reporters after the vote. The press isn't allowed on the floor of the U.S. Senate either, he said.

http://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/missouri-senate-moves-media-off-floor-after-tweets/article_f6129c6a-6d56-5478-93dd-645e7b57eb17.html

[lastlib]

1. The rats love the dark......

Why don't they want us to know what they're doing?? Because "it's not good for us".

[Sherman A1]

2. Precisely

And a wonderful description!

[murielm99]

3. They haven't been banned from the chamber,

just moved.

I don't have a problem with that. Let their negotiations remain private, and their votes public.

Social media has become much too intrusive.