LINCOLN, Neb.—In addition to the gaggle of TV, radio, online and newspaper reporters who regularly cover the Nebraska Legislature, a handful of lesser-known reporters who write about the legislature also work for it.
The Unicameral Information Office employs three public information officers who earn an average of $47,442 per year not only to do public relations, but also to act as journalists, taking photos and writing stories about legislation, just like the free press. They’re overseen by a director who earns nearly $60,000 annually. Altogether, they earn more than $200,000 in salaries, not counting benefits and office costs.
They produce the Unicameral Update, a free printed and online publication billed as the official news publication of the Nebraska Legislature. When lawmakers are in session, the Update is published weekly and is a couple-dozen pages long.
It has a Twitter account, called “Nebraska Legislature,” with 4,783 followers, as well as an RSS feed and email subscriptions. In other words, it has everything most media outlets have, except it’s all paid for with tax dollars.
Patrick O’Donnell, clerk of the Legislature, has overseen the public information officers since they were assigned to him in the early 1980s. He says they provide valuable information about what goes on at the Legislature.
“We’ve got about 5,000 to 6,000 people who want it every week,” he said of the Unicameral Update. “There obviously is an audience out there for it. People are searching for information. This is transparency. We give them more information.”
Which begs the question: Why does the Legislature need its own reporters? Aren’t there enough reporters covering the Legislature?
A study by the Pew Research Center found about a dozen reporters regularly cover the Nebraska Legislature—just under the national average, even though Nebraska’s population is well below average.
“While that makes government information more available to those who seek it out, it also reduces the news media’s historic role as watchdogs,” the Pew study said.
The Unicameral Update is straight reporting, without analysis, criticism or investigation.