Yesterday, Mangum set aside 45 minutes to take questions
from reporters in an invite-only event in the Lee Hall President’s Suite. A
FAMU letter to selected press representatives stated that: “The allotted time of
9 a.m. to 9:45 a.m. will serve as an intimate on-the-record conversation with
President Mangum.”
Stephen Jiwanmall, a reporter for WTXL-27 ABC of
Tallahassee, said that:
“WTXL was invited to participate but declined to attend, because the university
put restrictions on the interview that the station, as a news organization, did
not think were fair. No photography or videography was allowed during the
meeting. Officials restricted which members of the media could attend, and the
invited reporters were allowed to ask one question during the roundtable --
more, if time permitted.”
The FAMU letter indicated that the Mangum administration was unwilling to do any negotiations regarding the rule against taking photos or videos.
“If you should decide to decline this invitation due to our
request to refrain from photography or videography, please let me know
immediately so that I can allow another reporter to take your slot,” the letter
to the press said.
WTXL-27 News Director, III M. David Lee III called the set
of media restrictions for the event “unacceptable.”
“As a news organization, we did not feel the conditions in
which Florida A&M University dictated today’s interview opportunity to be
acceptable,” Lee said. “If Dr. Mangum wishes to sit down with WTXL, with
whoever we choose as the reporter, for an open and frank conversation about the
university, we are more than willing to set that up. However, asking a
television station not to videotape the interview, trying to handpick who can
do the interview and the initially limiting reporter questions to just one, is
unacceptable.”