A local newspaper and the governor’s office are at odds over a news article they published in early February. The Illinois Center Square reports that the Jacksonville Journal-Courier has been asked by Governor J.B. Pritzker’s office to retract the publication of an article written by Greg Bishop of the Center Square that was published in the paper last month about the governor’s plans to cut spending if voters don’t pass a progressive income tax in November. The article written by Bishop can be found here.
In a February 10th email obtained through open-records request by the Center Square, the Governor’s Press Secretary Jordan Abudayyeh wrote to the Journal-Courier saying the article was “filled with mischaracterizations and was devoid of context in which the governor talked about the state’s budget challenges.” Abudayyeh said the content was partisan and “masquerading as news.”
Chris Krug, publisher of the Center Square called the request from the governor’s office outrageous and called the act shameful and bullying on the governor’s part. Krug also claimed the report to be factually and contextually accurate. Journal-Courier editor and publisher David Bauer has not given comment. Krug went on to say on the Center Square website that it was the governor’s attempt at censorship and an attempt to mislead a news outlet, and his office owed both publications an apology.
Abbudayyeh is a former anchor on WICS Newschannel 20 in Springfield prior to taking the position as Press Secretary for the Pritzker Administration. She declined to comment to the Center Square about the email sent to the Journal Courier.
The Journal Courier has been in circulation in Jacksonville since 1830 and is owned by Hearst Newspapers. The Center Square is a national nonprofit, nonpartisan newswire published in 24 other states with a focus on government taxing, spending and regulatory issues; according to their website.