Illinois Governor Sued By Salem Host

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Salem Media Group and Chicago journalist Amy Jacobson have filed a federal lawsuit against Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker. The lawsuit, filed in the Northern District of Illinois, asks the court to take immediate action to allow Jacobson back into the Governor’s Press Briefings.

On Friday, May 15 Jacobson broke the story that Pritzker’s family traveled to their equestrian estate in Wisconsin, this was weeks after a previous report that the Governor’s family was at another estate in Florida. Governor Pritzker was one of the first in the nation to issue a statewide “stay-at-home” order.

On the day of the governor’s next press briefing, Pritzker’s press secretary told Jacobson she was banned from the briefings because she had attended a rally advocating for Illinois to end its lockdown. When questioned by reporters about Jacobson’s exclusion the next day, Pritzker told the press corps that Jacobson could not attend because advocating for Illinois to end its stay-at-home order represents an “extreme position.” The governor went on to say: “That is not a reporter … once upon a time she was a reporter but she proved that she is no longer a reporter.”

Jacobson has been attending the governor’s COVID-19 press briefings on behalf of Salem owned AM 560, The Answer, since April. The lawsuit was filed by attorneys from the Liberty Justice Center, a public interest law firm.

“We’re disappointed that the governor would retaliate against her and take the unprecedented step of blocking her from his press briefings,” said Jeff Reisman, Regional VP/GM, AM 560. “We had hoped litigation would not be necessary, but it’s imperative for Amy to get back into the room and keep doing her job.”

More information on the suit and a copy of the complaint can be found Here.

2 COMMENTS

  1. Thank you Amy for calling out this governor’s hypocrisy. We need more people in the media doing unbiased reporting. If Pritzker were a republican most news outlets would be all over him for his wife leaving the state. He needs to be voted out!!

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