The chief's revenge

A new law looks to curb YouTubers flooding the police department with open records requests, while carving out provisions for journalists, citizens

Rep. Katrina Shankland, left, and Matt Barnes discuss Senate Bill 789, which would allow police departments to charge for redactions on audio and video content.

A press conference I was alerted to Monday morning caught my attention - the passage of Senate Bill 789, headed to the governor’s desk this week for signature.

Upon reading the bill, it looked like it would allow municipalities to charge anyone making records requests the costs of municipalities redacting those requests.

So, hopping mad armed with a camera and coffee, I drove down to the police station for the press conference. I was ready to ask some tough questions.

The bill is co-sponsored by Rep. Katrina Shankland, which surprised me. Shankland has always seemed like a strong supporter of local journalism. She even stood up for the Stevens Point Journal when it was unpopular to do so. (Dislike of Gannett was strong in Stevens Point.)

Why was she helping this bill that seemed to put handcuffs on local journalism?

It turns out, the full story was a little more complicated. But some YouTubers and other opens records advocates are livid.