TOLEDO, Ohio — A federal judge has told the mayor’s office that a radio
reporter who was barred from attending a news conference must be allowed into
future news events.
U.S. District Judge James Carr on Jan. 16 also ordered the office to notify
station WSPD-AM about upcoming news conferences.
The station had sued the city after Kevin Milliken, a reporter and talk-show
host, was barred from a news conference last week about the city’s Martin Luther
King Day celebration. Mayor Carty Finkbeiner’s office said Milliken was not an
objective reporter.
“The policy chills the speech of all members of the press who disagree with
the mayor or his administration’s actions,” the lawsuit said.