On January 7, 1948 – 77 years ago – the administration of Gov. James E. “Big Jim” Folsom infuriated the state’s media when it announced that daily newspaper and radio reporters were banned from attending news conferences and press briefings, and only journalists from wire services and weekly papers would be admitted.
The announcement came the day after referendum voters rejected a “Self-Starter Amendment” that would have allowed the Legislature to call itself into special session against the governor’s wishes.
The campaign to promote passage of the constitutional amendment launched personal attacks on Folsom, his temperament, and his drinking habits, and many of the state’s daily newspapers – which were owned by “Big Mule” interests who opposed the populist governor – lustily joined in on the vitriol.
The Folsom administration, in defending its press conference ban, accused Capitol Press Corps reporters of sharing an embargoed copy of one of the governor’s speeches with members of his political opposition.
Outrage from the state’s daily newspapers was swift with outlets like the Decatur Daily publishing headlines in type size rivaling the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Montgomery Advertiser publisher R.F. Hudson released a statement that read:
“After a long series of press conferences in which scandalous charges were met with a cowardly ‘no comment,’ this order banning those who would report the news as it occurs, scandalous or otherwise, is not surprising.
We will continue to report the scandalous news from the Governor’s Office and his administrative assistants without consultation with the governor. This edict is consistent with the Folsom predilection for concealment of his and his assistants’ actions.”
The administration rescinded the order the day after it was issued and Folsom’s chief of staff, O.H. Finney Jr., and his military aide, Col. Bill Lyerly, both took responsibility and said they had acted without the governor’s knowledge.
At a follow-up news conference with the FULL press corps in attendance, Folsom attempted to downplay the incident and told the gathered reporters, “You know how I have been all along. I have always said you boys could write what you please about me, but be sure you spell the name right.”
Folsom had been elected governor in 1946 despite the opposition of almost every one of the 170 daily and weekly newspaper published in Alabama at that time.
During the tumultuous 1947 legislative session, which lasted almost 10 months, that state’s daily newspapers also opposed Folsom’s old age pension and roadbuilding programs editorially, especially when he proposed a $40 million bond issue to contruct “mailbox roads” in rural Alabama.
Courtesy of The Art of Alabama Politics.
