FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:  Jerry McKinstry, 917-282-6185

NOVEMBER TEAM: 'FIT US FOR HANDCUFFS; WE WILL NOT COMPLY WITH JCOPE SPEECH REGISTRATION SCHEME.'

Says Andrew Cuomo's Proposal is
Antithetical to First Amendment Protections

New York--Jan. 26... The November Team, LLC, a New York-based political and corporate communications firm, today announced that it will refuse to comply with any new regulation in Albany that would require public relations professionals to register media interactions with the government.

The November Team made its statement in response to a proposal being considered in Albany today by Gov. Andrew Cuomo's controversial Joint Commission on Public Integrity (JCOPE).  That proposal would force public relations professionals to register as lobbyists if they discuss public affairs matters with members of the news media -- on or off-the-record -- by telephone, email, SMS, Twitter, Facebook, or any other communications platform. Those PR professionals would be required to submit monthly reports on their activities, just as government lobbyists do.

"Our conversations with reporters are Constitutionally protected, and we will not surrender that protection under any circumstances," said November Team partners Jessica Proud and Bill O'Reilly in a joint statement. "If Andrew Cuomo wants to fit us for handcuffs, so be it. There is no more precious freedom in this country than the right to free speech, and we will fight for it."

"As a long time member of the news media, and as a former editorial board member for a major New York daily newspaper, I know how important the free flow of information between reporters and their sources is to this democracy," said November Team Managing Director Jerry McKinstry.  "If you put government monitors between those parties, you fundamentally alter this country. There is no way this proposal would pass Constitutional muster."

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