INDIANA — A student organization at Indiana University
abruptly canceled a public speech by a former Bush administration official
Tuesday after a disagreement with the student newspaper over the speaker's
request that the speech be off the record.
Meghan O'Sullivan, former deputy national security adviser for the Bush
administration, had stipulated in an agreement with the event organizers, the
Student Alliance for National Security, that no one from the press be allowed to
publicize what would be said at her speech. When the editor in chief of the
Indiana Daily Student, Carrie Ritchie, refused the request, the event was
canceled.
"To me, there was no logic to what they were doing," Ritchie said.
"Anything that this woman was saying, she's making a public statement. ... The
media can cover public events."
Adam Newman, assistant director of the student group, said they had no
choice but to cancel the event because they had agreed to O'Sullivan's terms.
"She didn't want the media directly quoting things from the talk," Newman
said. "That was actually a requirement for her to come speak at the
university."
Legally, O'Sullivan could not keep the press from covering the event
because it was open to the public, said Lucy Dalglish, executive director of the
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
"It is profoundly naïve to think you can invite the public and gag
them and the press from talking about it," Dalglish said. "It's unfortunate that
better judgment wasn't used here."
Ritchie said the paper could have sent in a reporter without telling event
organizers but chose to inform them.
"We thought it would be best for everybody to call them," she said. "Anyone
could've snuck in there with a recording device and recorded it and put it up
online 10 minutes later."
But Miles Taylor, director of the student group, said the paper raised its
concern only five minutes before the speech was to begin. A press release sent
to the Daily Student a week in advance had said the speech would be off
the record to the press, he said.
"Had we known a little further in advance, we could've made some
arrangements," he said. "Our hands were tied."
Newman said O'Sullivan stayed for a dinner Tuesday night and spoke
informally with event organizers and some university faculty.
By Emilie Yam, SPLC staff writer
