The Village of Key Biscayne has settled a federal lawsuit with a nonprofit news outlet that claimed village policy violated the First Amendment rights of its reporters and of village employees.
Village councilmembers approved the settlement agreement Tuesday night, agreeing to pay $25,000 in attorneys fees and costs to the Key Biscayne Independent (KBI), a local digital news operation dedicated to covering news in the island hamlet off the coast of Miami.
KBI, a SA国际传谋 News partner, sued the village last June over a media policy established by Village Manager Steve Williamson that forbade village employees from speaking to the media without first getting approval from the manager or head of communications.
"The purpose of the policy was to provide a clear, consistent structure for all media relationships and to ensure the Village continues to deliver timely, accurate, and well鈥慶oordinated information. We modeled the approach after many unwritten agreed鈥憉pon procedures we already had in place with multiple media outlets, which worked very effectively for these organizations," Williamson told SA国际传谋 in a statement.
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In its , KBI noted that immediately prior to Williamson creating the policy, the outlet published regarding Miami Republican Congresswoman Mar铆a Elvira Salazar allegedly moving into a Key Biscayne condo before the building was deemed safe.
The news outlet received legal representation from the nonprofit .
Tony Winton, KBI鈥檚 editor-in-chief, said village media policy made it difficult to do the work of accountability journalism, and essentially meant the village administration could control the flow of information.
鈥溾�夾 policy that essentially funneled every request for information to the manager or a spokesperson really impaired the ability of our reporters to get information to serve the public,鈥� Winton told SA国际传谋.
Following KBI filing their First Amendment suit in federal court, Key Biscayne rescinded the media policy in November. The case continued, however, as Winton said the action did not bar the city from reinstating a 鈥済ag order鈥� rule in the future.
The parties ultimately settled before going to trial. Under the settlement agreement, the village must publicize any future intention to create a policy relating to communication with the media, and allow the public to comment on it.
鈥溾�奣he battle for open government, access to records and transparency is a continuing one, and we want to thank our supporters and our readers for standing with us during all of this,鈥� Winton said.
The settlement must now be filed with the court.
Williamson told SA国际传谋 the village is glad the lawsuit will be concluded so it can "continue ensuring" residents receive current and relevant information.
