BATON ROUGE, La. — The Federal Emergency Management Agency is ending a policy that restricted news-media access to its trailer parks.
"We're responding to your criticism," James Stark, director of FEMA's Louisiana Transitional Recovery Office, told editors and staff of Baton Rouge's The Advocate newspaper yesterday during a telephone conference.
The Advocate has published two stories and an editorial about the FEMA policy.
"You pointed out some very good points that we shouldn't be trying to muzzle the press," Stark said.
The new policy "will allow media full access to the group site trailer parks" without representatives of FEMA accompanying them, he said.
Reporters and photographers will have to produce "valid media credentials" before they are allowed to enter the trailer parks, Stark added.
"In no way will FEMA security nor FEMA public affairs stand in the way of media entering the trailer parks with valid credentials and interviewing whomever they like," Stark said.
He said the restrictive policy had probably stemmed from an effort to protect privacy.
"As you know, everyone in a FEMA group site was receiving some kind of FEMA assistance," he said. "We felt that some families probably did not want that disclosed."
He said the policy was changed after it was reviewed in the last few days by FEMA officials.
U.S. Rep. Bobby Jindal, R-Kenner, who had strongly criticized the old policy in a letter to FEMA, called the change "fantastic news."
U.S. Rep. Charles W. Boustany, R-Lafayette, said yesterday he was also pleased when a reporter told him about FEMA's announcement. But both Jindal and Boustany said the agency needed more improvements.
"I hope this is the first of many policy reversals from FEMA regarding its relationship with the public," Boustany said.
U.S. Rep. Charlie Melancon, D-Napoleonville, who condemned FEMA's restrictive policy on July 24, was cautiously optimistic yesterday about the new policy.
"When political pressure starts building, they immediately say they are going to change things and make them better," Melancon said. "I think I'll have to see it first before I believe it."
Charles N. Davis, co-chair of the Freedom of Information Committee for the Society of Professional Journalists, also said yesterday he was pleased that FEMA had changed its press policy.