“The West Valley View has been in a long-running feud with Buckeye, one of the towns we cover, over their withholding of public records in regard to dismissals, resignations and disciplinary actions against town officials,” Painter explained. “Eleven high-ranking town officials have been fired, forced to resign or placed on administrative leave since the town election in May. We have written news stories and multiple editorials about the situation.

“In response to the negative ink, the town is planning to hire a public information officer. The town manager has asked us if we would like to have someone from our staff sit in on the interview process with the final few candidates. This may be an attempt to make peace, but it may also be an attempt to get our buy-in to a person whose main job might still end up being to keep us away from town staff and council members. Would our sitting in on the interviews for a PIO be inappropriate?”

Freireich and Painter received 16 responses, most of whom were adamant that the West Valley View not participate in the interviewing process.

“There is no way in heck I would sit on the hiring committee,” said Paul MacNeill, president of Island Press Ltd. in Montague, Prince Edward Island. “The city is simply looking to use your good name to add credibility to a questionable process. Why do they need a PR person anyway? Far too many governments waste far too much money on spin-doctoring. In this case I can see why they want one — you are doing your job by reporting on a significant issue. It doesn’t justify the hiring, however.”

Larry Atkinson, editor and publisher of the Mobridge (S.D.) Tribune, said he would not take the city up on the offer to assist in the hiring process.

“I feel it would be a conflict of interest and could possibly send a wrong signal to the public, i.e., ‘if the paper helped pick the person they hired, they must be in with the city now’,” Atkinson said. “That could affect the paper’s credibility with the public. It may be an ‘attempt to make peace’ on the part of the city, but I feel your paper has much more to lose than to gain by assisting with the hiring.”

Dr. Kathryn Campbell, an assistant professor of journalism at the University of Oregon, said she would give the city of Buckeye the “benefit of the doubt” regarding its motives.

“They might TRULY want to hire someone who can work professionally with professionals,” Campbell said. “But rather than sit in yourself, why not suggest that they ask a journalism professor. Most of us are very familiar with the mechanics and dynamics of the public relations/newspaper relationship — and from real experience, not just some theory.

“I’m not familiar with your geographic location, but there are several fine journalism programs in the state. Perhaps an SPJ campus chapter adviser would be helpful in identifying someone. I’d volunteer in a heartbeat if I were closer”

Chris Wood, general manager of Wisconsin Web Offset, cautioned Freireich and Painter to steer clear of the city’s offer.

“I wouldn’t touch the interview process for a public information officer with a 10-foot pole, for all sorts of reasons, but no matter what, you can’t win,” he said.

Mike Dart, editor of the Four Oaks-Benson News in Review in Benson, N.C., said he would ask the city of Buckeye to agree to some conditions before agreeing to search on the search committee for a public information officer.

“You should only participate if town officials make absolutely clear what the PIO’s duties will be and that they will not limit transparency of the town's functioning to the public,” Dart said. “They need to make some kind of commitment about these — in writing would be nice — and these need to be ones that you can live with.

“Among the ones I would require is that the PIO will not be a barrier between you and any town officials. A PIO can never stand between the press (or other members of the public) and an elected official. If the official does not understand and is not agreeable to that, he or she needs to resign or be voted out of office. The PIO should be there to facilitate press/public access to people/information. If you have questions that do not require direct access, the PIO should act as your go-between, saving you the legwork. But, if you need direct access, you should be able to bypass the PIO.

“Other than that, the PIO’s job should include — to the benefit of both the town and the paper — offering story or photo tips that you might want to follow up on and providing coverage or greater depth of coverage of topics that you do not have time for but do have space for and a desire for, or at least a willingness to convey it to the public. Besides these slight assists to the paper in getting information to the public, the PIO’s job actually should have little to do with the press.”

Bill Lynch, editor and publisher of The Sonoma (Calif.) Index-Tribune, said he believed a reporter should be able to sit in on all job interviews for public officials, but as an observer rather than a participant.

“I would avoid any participation or appearance of participation in the actual interview process,” Lynch said. “Nor do I think you should offer your opinion to the city officials on who they should hire after you observe.”

Robert Estabrook, editor and publisher emeritus of The Lakeville (Ct.) Journal, urged Freireich and Painter to stick to their principles and not join the hiring committee.

“It seems to me that this is a blatant attempt by the particular town to fend off or neutralize your criticism by dumping part of the responsibility on you and thus making you part of the problem,” Estabrook said. “You are right to be suspicious. It's about as innocent as the federal Department of Education and the purchased columnist.”

Maurine Beasley, a professor of journalism at the University of Maryland, said she didn’t think a community newspaper should take part in selecting a city’s public relations person.

“The ethics question you raised reminds me of a somewhat similar situation that happened at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism where I teach,” Beasley said. “We had a lab newspaper and the city of College Park, Md., where the university is, wanted to pay the college to publish the newspaper for the city. We said ‘no’ because we thought that the city would want to make it a newsletter publicizing the ‘good’ works of the officials.”

Garrett Ray, a retired journalism professor from Colorado State University, said the West Valley View’s instincts about the city of Buckeye’s motives were correct.

“Don’t touch it,” Ray said. “You’re being co-opted. It’s not your role to help choose the person, even though (or especially when) your relationship with the city will depend a lot on the person they hire.

“There are circumstances when a different sort of involvement of special-interest groups can be appropriate in the hiring process,” Ray added. “For example, when a school board chooses a new superintendent, representatives of ALL the possible interest groups (teachers, parents, principals, etc.) might be invited to take part in PUBLIC meetings with the finalists, then report their reactions to the decision-makers.”

Douglas Perret Starr, professor of agricultural journalism at Texas A&M University, said he saw nothing wrong in assigning a reporter, or even an editorial writer, to cover the selection of the city’s public information officer.

“But for a member of the newspaper to participate is simply out of the question,” Starr said. “Newspapers, reporters, editorial writers, et al, report and comment on news; they do not make news.”

Donna Remer, executive editor of Voice Newspapers in New Baltimore, Mich., said she agreed with Chris Wood and that the West Valley View should “respectfully decline” the city’s offer to sit on the hiring committee.

“It's an attempt to get you to buy in to the process,” Remer said. “Suppose you participate and they hire your choice for public information officer. It will be hard for you to be critical of the person, since you recommended the hire. You now have a stake in that person's success. Suppose they hire someone you recommended against. If you are critical afterward, they will just chalk it up to ‘sour grapes.’

“In my opinion, public information officers are usually not hired in the interest of providing more public information. Rather, they are hired to spin information in the interest of the body who hires them. At best, they can be helpful in gathering information you request; at worst, they serve as ‘dis-information officers.’ Newspapers understand this and work with it, but should not be involved in the hiring process. Open government is simple: Just follow the rules of the Open Meetings Act and FOIA. You don't need a specialist for that.”

Dick Drysdale, editor and publisher of The Herald of Randolph in Vermont, said he seconded Wood’s comment “100 percent,” adding that the West Valley View shouldn’t buy into the public information officer concept.

“It sounds like a way to manage the news,” Drysdale said. “If the town insists that all information go through this person, that will keep you from other sources within municipal government. You are going to want to be free to demand the right to information directly from agency sources, and becoming part of the hiring process will leave you less independent, I think.”

Kim McCully-Mobley, editor of The Ozarkian Spirit magazine in Aurora, Mo., said she also would decline the city’s offer to serve on the hiring committee.

“I wouldn't want to give the impression that I was in cahoots with any entity that had been duping the public behind closed doors and holding their documents hostage,” McCully-Mobley said. “I think I'd be tempted to see if they would let me cover those meetings in an effort to let the public know their criteria and the goals they have in mind for this person. Address the fact that there's controversy and see if they want to open the doors and let the sun shine in. Of course, they'll hide under the personnel protection of any Sunshine Law umbrella, but at least you are giving them the opportunity to be candid and informative with the public they serve.”

David Cox, managing editor of Areawide Media in Salem, Ark., said he would not characterize the West Valley View’s battle with the city of Buckeye as a “feud” because the paper was simply doing its job of reporting on city government and providing editorial leadership on its op-ed page.

“That’s just serving the readers,” Cox said. “The readers have no doubt come to expect solid reporting and insightful commentary on the city's actions, and you should not retreat from that. Neither ‘making peace’ nor deliberately cultivating an adversarial relationship with the city serves the readers.

“You've apparently gotten the city's attention,” Cox added. “If you have a staff member sit in on the city's interviews, it should not be as a participant but as a reporter covering the process. I would remind the city — and especially the mayor — that your job is to continue to provide objective coverage of the city's actions, and that precludes taking any role in their decision-making process. The only input you provide on the matter should be on your editorial page.”

Brad Martin, editor of the Hickman County Times in Centerville, Tenn., said it would be “over the line” for the West Valley View to participate on a committee to hire an employee who is entirely responsible to the town.

“It's the town's job, not the newspaper's,” Martin said. “I think it's worth pointing out in your reporting that the newspaper was invited, then explain the ethical problem — how can you be a credible reporting source on the town when you're helping to hire its employees? If they want to improve their relationship with you, let them release all the records you're asking for.

“It sounds to me like you're reporting the hell out of the situation, so the citizenry has a chance to know what is going on. Keep it up. Is it worth going to court over the personnel records? Hard question, I know. In the pure sense, I'd have to have some faith in the system — that the hell-raising you're doing now should translate into not only a more informed electorate but quite possibly new candidates for public office at the next opportunity…candidates who might better serve the public's interest in the government business.”

Dave Gordon, a retired journalism professor from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, offered the West Valley View a rationale for turning down the city’s offer.

“You might simply say that your readers expect you to be outside observers, and even if dealing into the process wouldn't affect your detachment, it could well be perceived as compromising that detachment,” Gordon said. “And that's a risk you can't run.

“If it becomes necessary, you could also point out somewhere along the way that a public information officer's job is to provide information to the public as a whole, and that the paper is part of (and, in most instances, represents) that public. James Madison is always a good source to cite in connection with the need for an informed public.”