Summary
In January 2015, Pence announced the creation of a state-run, taxpayer-funded news agency called “Just In.” The proposal was widely criticized for its similarities to the state-run media outlets in authoritarian countries, its political nature and its misuse of taxpayer money. Journalists called the plan a “national joke” and criticized Pence for not sticking to him limited government conservative values.
Following these criticisms, Pence began to distance himself from the proposal. He claimed he did not know he work the plan and that the controversy surrounding it was a “misunderstanding.” The Pence administration killed the plan for a state-run news agency days after first announcing it.
Pence Planned To Launch Just IN, A Taxpayer-Funded News Outlet To Provide Pre-Written News Stories To The Media And Break News About His Administration. According to The Indianapolis Star, “Gov. Mike Pence is starting a state-run taxpayer-funded news outlet that will make pre-written news stories available to Indiana media, as well as sometimes break news about his administration, according to documents obtained by The Indianapolis Star. Pence is planning in late February to launch ‘Just IN,’ a website and news outlet that will feature stories and news releases written by state press secretaries and is being overseen by a former Indianapolis Star reporter, Bill McCleery.” [Indianapolis Star, 1/27/15]
The Pence Administration Said Just IN’s Stories Would “Range From Straightforward News To Lighter Features, Including Personality Profiles.” According to the Indianapolis Star, “The Pence news outlet will take stories written by state communications directors and publish them on its website. Stories will ‘range from straightforward news to lighter features, including personality profiles.’” [Indianapolis Star, 1/29/15]
According To The Pence Administration, Just IN Would Occasionally Break News Like A Typical News Outlet. According to the Indianapolis Star, “‘At times, Just IN will break news — publishing information ahead of any other news outlet. Strategies for determining how and when to give priority to such “exclusive” coverage remain under discussion,’ according to a question-and-answer sheet distributed last week to communications directors for state agencies.” [Indianapolis Star, 1/29/15]
Pence Said The Website Was A “One-Stop-Shop Website For Press Releases” And “Not A News Source.” According to Evansville Courier & Press, “Gov. Mike Pence’s administration released details Tuesday about a new website the team is launching. The details on ‘Just IN’ come a day after the Republican governor received pushback for the effort critics have denounced as a state-run news service. […] Pence called reports saying the website was intended to be a news agency an ‘understandable misunderstanding’ based on internal communications. His comments followed his Tuesday announcement that the federal government had approved his administration’s health care expansion plan. ‘My understanding is that the website that has become a source of controversy. ... (it) is simply a one-stop-shop website for press releases and information,’ Pence said. ‘It’s meant to be a resource and not a news source, and we will be clarifying that.’” [Evansville Courier & Press, 1/28/15]
Pence Said It Was An “Understandable Misunderstanding” That Just IN Was Designed To Be A “News Agency.” According to The Indianapolis Star, “Documents obtained by The Indianapolis Star - first reported on IndyStar.com late Monday - show a detailed plan to have state press secretaries write news stories and distribute them through the Just IN site. By noon Tuesday, Pence was playing down his administration’s plans to start a news site. ‘Reports that this was intended to be a news agency, I think just represent an understandable misunderstanding based on some internal communications that I read about in the press,’ Pence said, after his announcement that he had won an alternative expansion of Medicaid from the federal government.” [Indianapolis Star, 1/28/15]
January 28, 2015: Pence Said If Just IN Resembled State-Run Media, He Would Reject It. According to The Indianapolis Star, “Gov. Mike Pence told a conservative talk show host Wednesday that he would reject any version of his new Just IN website that looks like state-run media, continuing to distance himself from a written news service plan developed by his staff. […] Garrison continuously pressed Pence to abandon any plan for a state-run news service, until Pence finally said he would reject any state-run news outlet. ‘As governor, I can assure you that (the plan) did not meet my expectations and if this website doesn’t meet my expectations of respecting the role of a free and independent press, I will reject it,’ Pence said Wednesday on WIBC-FM (93.1).” [Indianapolis Star, 1/29/15]
Evening News and Tribune: Pence Tried To Distance Himself From A State-Run News Website. In an editorial Evening News and Tribune wrote, “Later Tuesday, Pence distanced himself from the reports of a state-run news website uncovered by the Star via internal documents related to the site, titled ‘Just IN.’ According to those documents, which were distributed to state agencies’ public information officers last week, the news service would ‘break’ news ahead of traditional media outlets and deliver stories written by state press secretaries. The documents describe a site helping short-staffed newspapers, to be overseen by an editorial board made up of a former reporter, the governor’s press staff and others.” [Evening News and Tribune, 1/28/15]
January 28, 2015: Pence Said He Did Not Know Who Wrote The Plan For Just IN. According to The Indianapolis Star, “Gov. Mike Pence told a conservative talk show host Wednesday that he would reject any version of his new Just IN website that looks like state-run media, continuing to distance himself from a written news service plan developed by his staff. […] Pence appeared on Greg Garrison’s radio talk show to explain his administration’s new communications plans, at one point saying he was unsure who wrote the plan for Just IN, details of which were first reported by The Indianapolis Star.” [Indianapolis Star, 1/29/15]
Pence Called The Controversy Around Just IN A Misunderstanding. In an editorial The Goshen News wrote, “Now Pence says the whole affair was simply a misunderstanding. ‘I have great, great respect for the role that the media plays,’ Pence said. ‘I’ve been a champion of that throughout my career and will make sure this website reflects that proper role. Pence, A Former Radio talk show host, supported freedom of the press while in the United States House of Representatives, and we appreciate that. A man’s record of past actions is a good indicator of his current intentions, so we think Pence deserves the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps his team in Indy simply got carried away with enthusiasm over the possibility of getting their message out to the far corners of the state.” [Goshen News, 1/29/15]
January 29, 2015: Pence Stopped The Development Of Just IN Days After Announcing It. According to Evansville Courier & Press, “Gov. Mike Pence stopped plans for his administration to create a news website on Thursday after receiv-ing backlash claiming the project would amount to a state-run news service. Pence said the project was ‘well-intentioned,’ but after reviewing preliminary plans for the project and the concerns expressed, he de-cided to stop the development of ‘JustIN,’ in a letter he wrote to state agency heads. […] But on Thursday, Pence said the ‘JustIN’ website was no longer in the works. Instead, the state’s existing public calendar would be updated and improved for access to press releases and public meeting notices, Pence an-nounced.” [Evansville Courier & Press, 1/30/15]
Newspaper Publisher: Just IN Was A “Ludicrous Idea.” According to the Indianapolis Star, “‘I think it's a ludicrous idea,’ said Jack Ronald, publisher of one such newspaper, the Portland Commercial Review. ‘I have no problem with public information services — the Purdue University agriculture extension service does a great job. But the notion of elected officials presenting material that will inevitably have a pro-administration point of view is antithetical to the idea of an independent press.’” [Indianapolis Star, 1/29/15]
Just IN Was Criticized By Journalists Who Had Worked In Former Soviet States, Training Journalists To Build An Independent Press. According to the Indianapolis Star, “Ronald won a Fulbright scholarship in 1998 to train journalists in the former Soviet state of Moldova about how to build an independent press, after decades of relying on state-run media under the USSR. From there he worked with journalists in Afghanistan, Belarus, Russia and many other former Soviet states. In 2009, he was deported from Uzbekistan, after being placed on a blacklist following training in Belarus.” [Indianapolis Star, 1/29/15]
Matthew Tully Column: Just IN Was “A Politician, One Who Already Has An Army Of Press Secretaries, Trying To Seize More Control Of What You Read About The Things He Says And Does.” In a column in the Indianapolis Star, Matthew Tully wrote, “A state-run news agency? What in the name of Vladimir Putin is the Pence administration thinking? His administration is calling it ‘Just IN.’ But, I'm sorry, that's the last time you'll ever hear me call it that. This is a propaganda outlet, plain and simple. This is a politician, one who already has an army of press secretaries, trying to seize more control of what you read about the things he says and does.” [Indianapolis Star, 1/27/15]
Headline: Pravda on the Plains: Indiana’s New Propaganda Machine. [The Atlantic, 1/27/15]
Headline: Welcome To The Gulag, Love, Mike Pence. [CBS Chicago, 1/27/15]
The Madison Courier Editorial: Pence’s Just IN Was Just An Attempt To Control Information To The Advantage Of Those In Power. In an editorial The Madison Courier wrote, “Gov. Mike Pence’s new taxpayer-funded news operation is nothing more than an attempt to control information to the advantage of those in power. Pence’s ‘Just IN’ would offer the party line disguised as news, nothing resembling the watchdog traditions of an independent press. Pence has backed off a bit and says the ‘news’ service has been misrepresented. He says the venture is nothing more than a better way of providing news and information to the public.” [Madison Courier, 1/29/15]
The Atlantic: “State-Sponsored Journalism Is Generally The Province Of Authoritarian States—think Pravda Or Xinhua. If The Government Is Pushing Out Information With Newspaper-Style Coverage That Looks Like The Standard Press But Is Actually Government Ventriloquism, Will Readers Be Able To Tell The Difference?” According to The Atlantic, “More importantly, it's an obvious threat to the notion of a free press. State-sponsored journalism is generally the province of authoritarian states—think Pravda or Xinhua. If the government is pushing out information with newspaper-style coverage that looks like the standard press but is actually government ventriloquism, will readers be able to tell the difference?” [The Atlantic, 1/27/16]
Matthew Tulley Op-Ed: Pence’s Just IN Was A “Propaganda Outlet.” In an Indianapolis Star op-ed Matthew Tully wrote, “When creating our government, our Founders put freedom of the press into the Constitution. Right there in the First Amendment. And while backtracking commenced Tuesday, the Pence administration had been acting behind the scenes as if it thinks the press should be our government. A state-run news agency? What in the name of Vladimir Putin is the administration thinking? The administration is calling it Just IN. But, I’m sorry, that’s the last time you’ll ever hear me call it that. This is a propaganda outlet, plain and simple. This is a politician’s team, one that already has an army of press secretaries, trying to seize more control of what you read about the things he says and does. That ain’t America, folks.” [Indianapolis Star, 1/28/15]
Fort Wayne Journal Gazette Editorial: Pence’s Just IN Website Was Designed To Shield His Administration From Criticism, But Hoosiers Would Know The Difference “Between News And Propaganda.” In an editorial Fort Wayne Journal Gazette wrote, “‘The longer I’m in Congress, the more vigorously I believe in a free and independent press. Concentrations of power should be subject to great scrutiny. I just think that it is imperative that we preserve the transparency of the American government. And the only way you can do that is by preserving a free and independent press.’ - Gov. Mike Pence, in a 2007 interview with Columbia Journalism Review As a congressman, Mike Pence championed a federal shield law; as governor, he seeks to shield his administration from criticism. Just IN, his new taxpayer-funded news agency, might allow Pence to better control the message, but Hoosiers will discern the difference between news and propaganda.” [Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, 1/28/15]
John Krull Op-Ed: Pence Became A National Joke When He Attempted To Launch A Government News Agency. In a Evansville Courier & Press op-ed John Krull wrote, “Then there was the ill-fated attempt to launch a government news agency. Pence pulled the plug on those plans, but not before the episode turned him into the butt of a national joke.” [Evansville Courier & Press, 4/2/15]
Tim Swarens Op-Ed: Just IN Was A “Debacle” That Was “By Far The Worst Of Pence’s Two Years In Office.” In an Indianapolis Star op-ed Tim Swarens wrote, “During our conversation, Pence reiterated his commitment to government transparency and his respect for a free press. He also said he regrets the perceptions created by what he acknowledged was an ill-conceived plan, the details of which he said he learned by reading The Star’s original story on Just IN. This debacle is by far the worst of Pence’s two years in office, and came at an especially inopportune time.” [Indianapolis Star, 1/30/15]
The Atlantic: “Can You Imagine, For Example, That A Republican Governor With A Reputation As A Small-Government Conservative Would Try To Launch A Government-Run News Service To Disseminate Information Under The Guise Of Journalism?” According to The Atlantic, “Sometimes you can't believe what you read in the press. Can you imagine, for example, that a Republican governor with a reputation as a small-government conservative would try to launch a government-run news service to disseminate information under the guise of journalism?” [The Atlantic, 1/27/16]
Fort Wayne Journal Gazette Editorial: Using Taxpayer Money On Just IN And Creating His Own Education Agency Showed “Pence’s Devotion To Limited Government And Fiscal Conservatism Looks Suspect.” In an editorial Fort Wayne Journal Gazette wrote, “Public records indicate an annual cost of at least $100,000 for the Just IN staff, in addition to the money already allocated for state communications officers. Combined with creation of his own education agency, the ill-fated Center for Education and Career Innovation, Pence’s devotion to limited government and fiscal conservatism looks suspect. There seems to be no limit, at least, for agencies to counter views contrary to the governor’s.” [Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, 1/28/15]
Evening News and Tribune Editorial: Just IN Was Criticized By Columnists For Utilizing Taxpayer Money To Pay For Editors And Writers. In an editorial Evening News and Tribune wrote, “State and national media picked up on the story, with many columnists critical of the plan for taxpayer money to pay for editors and writers -- $100,000 the Indianapolis Star reported -- to produce news from the state. A writer for The Atlantic compared the proposal to Russia’s pro-Communist Pravda newspaper.” [Evening News and Tribune, 1/28/15]
The Goshen News Editorial: Pence Changed The Initial Service Of Just IN Away From A News Service Which Would Be A Waste Of $100,000 Of Taxpayer Money. In an editorial The Goshen News wrote, “After having a second thought, Gov. Mike Pence is telling Indiana media outlets a new website set to launch in February, won’t function as a news service as originally intended. We’re glad to hear that. This news service is a bad idea and a waste of the $100,000 in taxpayer funds it will take to employ two new editors to run the website.” [Goshen News, 1/29/15]
The Madison Courier Editorial: Pence Might Have Thought Just In Was A Good Idea Because Gaining Political Advantage Trumps Good Government And Opposing Views And Questions Are Not Welcome. In an editorial The Madison Courier wrote, “Gaining political advantage trumps good government, and questions or opposing views are unwelcome. That may help explain why Pence thinks this is a good idea.” [Madison Courier, 1/29/15]
Orlando Sentinel Editorial: Hoped That Indiana Leaders Should Learn From Pence’s Mistake To Create A State-Run, Taxpayer Funded News Agency. In an editorial Orlando Sentinel wrote, “Mike Pence: OK, so not all his ideas are enlightened. Word leaked this week that Pence’s office had been working on a plan to create a state-run, taxpayer-funded news agency. Pence insisted the agency was intended only as a source for press releases, but the plan reportedly called for it to produce news and feature stories under the supervision of a managing editor. We can imagine Florida’s leaders who have testy relations with the press could find a friendly news agency tempting, as Indiana’s governor apparently did. But in this case, we’d hope Florida’s leaders would learn from Pence’s mistake.” [Orlando Sentinel, 1/31/15]
Conservative Radio Host Greg Garrison Told Pence In An Interview He Should Abandon Just IN. According to The Indianapolis Star, “Gov. Mike Pence told a conservative talk show host Wednesday that he would reject any version of his new Just IN website that looks like state-run media, continuing to distance himself from a written news service plan developed by his staff. […] Pence appeared on Greg Garrison’s radio talk show to explain his administration’s new communications plans, at one point saying he was unsure who wrote the plan for Just IN, details of which were first reported by The Indianapolis Star. […] Garrison continuously pressed Pence to abandon any plan for a state-run news service, until Pence finally said he would reject any state-run news outlet. ‘As governor, I can assure you that (the plan) did not meet my expectations and if this website doesn’t meet my expectations of respecting the role of a free and independent press, I will reject it,’ Pence said Wednesday on WIBC-FM (93.1).” [Indianapolis Star, 1/29/15]
Pence’s Just IN Website Was Criticized By Indiana House Speaker Brian Bosma, Who Joked He Ordered Russian Translation Software For The Website. According to The Indianapolis Star, “Indiana House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, prodded Pence throughout the week, saying that he had ordered Russian translation software for the rollout of the new Pence news service. Bosma did get serious in his weekly news conference, saying that Pence’s Just IN brand had been damaged so badly that it had to go. ‘He absolutely made the right decision here. It was branded at this point and needed to go away,’ Bosma said.” [Indianapolis Star, 1/30/15]