Fullerton bans newspapers at all city facilities except libraries

“In towns and cities… there is no more important institution than the local paper.” ~ Warren Buffett

April 13, 2025

Like the Fullerton City Council has nothing better to do?

Hiding behind newspapers are “non-governmental content,” on April 1, the Fullerton City Council, in a 4-1 vote, approved a policy banning the distribution of newspapers at city buildings. The one exception to the new policy is a “community news” rack at the back of Fullerton libraries.

The last time I looked, Fullerton was running legal notices in print (as required by Government Codes 6000 and 6008). So, when they publish a legal notice, how will they get a copy of the notice for their files?

City Attorney Richard Jones said a letter to city officials from a local blog “making a statement of intent” to display its newsletter in the City Hall lobby sparked the policy question.

Somehow that led to “a broader conversation with respect to the policy issues regarding the use of our city facilities and whether or not they should be deemed to be non-public forums or a source of public forum,” Jones said.

I have been covering City Councils for over 25 years, this is the first for me.

Jones told the councilmembers as they discussed the ban that because the council’s focus was on the broader question of the appropriate use of city facilities and not “retaliatory or focused in nature on a given publication,” it would not be a violation of the First Amendment.

Yeah right. And what does “the appropriate use of city facilities” actually mean?

Councilman Ahmad Zahra, the only dissenting vote, argued the approved policy encroaches on freedom of speech rights.

“We have two publications in our city that have been producing news and covering the city for the last several decades. One of them is the Fullerton Observer, and the other one is the Daily Titan,” Zahra told the OC Register.. “The end result is pushing those two out.”

Emily Wilson, editor-in-chief of the Daily Titan, Cal State Fullerton’s student newspaper, said the policy “signals to me that they want to control the message.”

LCCN would agree. This is very similar to the actions of former Cerritos Mayors Chuogn Vo and Bruce Barrows, when, after an investigation revealed campaign donations from questionable people, the two blackballed LCCN stopping all city advertising.

Mayor Fred Jung defended the policy and said it is intended to keep city buildings neutral.

To LCCN, the fact that Jung used the word neutral indicated bias toward the Observer and the Tiitan.

“It was meant for nonprofit brochures, postcard advertisements, flyers to events that are not city-sponsored,” Jung said. “It’s meant for anything. The fact that the Daily Titan and the Fullerton Observer have taken it upon themselves to take this personally when it has nothing to do with them is really strange and, quite frankly, counterproductive.”

The Daily Titan, Wilson said, will continue to cover the city of Fullerton.

“This ban is not going to significantly impact our ability to distribute, our ability to (stay) afloat, so to speak,” Wilson said. “But we do take significant issue with the fact that the city is symbolically messaging to us that not only do they not think our work is important, they think it doesn’t have a place on city property.”

In 2013, the City of San Juan Capistrano banned newspaper racks in public facilities, including City Hall and the community center. This action was widely perceived as targeting Community Common Sense, a local newspaper known for its critical reporting on city officials.

In response, Community Common Sense filed a lawsuit against the city, alleging violations of the First Amendment, the California Constitution, and the city’s own municipal code. The lawsuit argued that the ban infringed upon residents’ rights to access and read newspapers freely. A temporary restraining order was granted, allowing the newspapers to be distributed once again in public spaces.

The legal challenge and ensuing public outcry led the city to reverse its policy, reinstating the distribution of newspapers in public facilities. This case underscores the importance of upholding free speech rights and the role of local journalism in holding government accountable.