The police raid of the Marion County Record’s newsroom on Aug. 11, 2023, shocked the country but proved to be just one of a series of alarming attacks on local journalism that year. It was also a preview of how lawless and incompetent governments can use strained constructions of the law as pretext to retaliate against journalists they dislike, as we now see not only in small-town America but at the federal level. As the death of Record co-owner Joan Meyer the next day tragically proved, by the time justice takes its course — if it ever does — the damage has often already been done.
We asked investigative journalist Jessica McMaster to reflect on her award-winning coverage of the raid for KSHB-TV in Kansas City, Missouri. The interview is below. You can also read about or watch our discussion with Record publisher Eric Meyer earlier this year.
On a Friday afternoon in 2023, news broke of a police raid of the Marion County Record newsroom and its publisher Eric Meyer’s home. Did you realize right away that this needed to be not just a statewide story but a national one?
I realized right away this was a big story. Once the news broke that Joan Meyer died, I knew we had to go to Marion — the backlash was immediate and the responses were coming in from across the country.
Over the course of many months, it became clear that the raid wasn’t a random instance of police overresponding to a citizen complaint. Details began to emerge about local officials, including the police chief, Gideon Cody, and their conduct before, during, and after the raid — even before coming to Marion. Plenty of great local journalists did amazing work covering the story, but you seemed to get a large share of the big scoops. Without divulging any confidences, how were you able to pull it off, especially being based in Kansas City, not particularly close to Marion?
I worked a lot of hours. In the beginning, we stayed overnight in Marion. After that, it was a lot of driving back and forth, while taking calls from sources at all hours of the night. I’d been a journalist long enough to know that a story this big doesn’t die down for a few weeks. We made the commitment to drive the five-hour round trip daily. I didn’t always know what our angle would be, but I knew I’d find it.
Jessica McMaster“If journalists are not willing to report on the ongoing attacks against the free press, who will?”
Talk about the level of transparency — or lack thereof — that you encountered from government officials, both in Marion and statewide, during your reporting on the raid. What were some of the challenges you needed to overcome, in terms of secrecy and accessing information that was of public interest?
Gideon Cody wasn’t talking. The county attorney wasn’t talking. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation was saying very little. Almost immediately, it had the appearance that everyone involved in this was covering their own tail — and of course they were. This was a huge mess. We leaned on the gift of open records laws to get most of our information. Getting emails and text messages helped piece the parts of the story together that those in power wanted to remain a secret. We knew they’d try and block us — we were prepared to fight back. There were times when we had to get our attorneys involved when information was being withheld. On a story like this, the details don’t reveal the truth all at once. It trickles out over time. It’s always fun to look back and see how it all comes together — one information request, or leak, at a time.
At Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF), we were glued to your X feed for real-time updates. We probably weren’t the only ones. Can you talk about the challenge of breaking news on social media while also investigating the bigger stories?
This is one of my favorite parts about covering a big story — connecting with people in real time. I had people from other countries sending me emails and tweeting to me that they were following me for updates. I was not asked to use social media in real time by my employer — it’s just something I’d become accustomed to doing since early on in my career. With Marion, we were getting updates constantly — social media made it easy to get that information out quickly. I don’t see using social media as a challenge — I think it’s a tool to connect with our followers more authentically and bring them along on the journey with us. Of course, if I have to get my broadcast script in urgently, or I have to be on camera within the next few minutes, I’ll take a break from providing live updates and come back to it once I’m done.
Were there any stories you were able to break while covering the raid that you felt were particularly important to the public’s understanding of what went on?
We broke so many stories over the first couple of months. I remember driving to Marion during that first week of coverage. I didn’t know what the story would be on this particular day. It was our plan to find the story once we got there. About an hour into our trip, while driving past a cornfield, my cellphone rings and it’s the attorney for Marion County Record. He tips me off that the county attorney has revoked the search warrants. He gave me a two-minute head start before he planned to tell all the other reporters. This was arguably the biggest break in the case — it’s the first time officials publicly admitted the raids shouldn’t have happened. This squashed any doubts of wrongdoing on behalf of the newspaper — and people, especially in Marion — did have their doubts. So, of course, I’m scrambling to get this information out there. Minutes after I broke the news on X, the county attorney sent a press release to all newsrooms with his statement on revoking the warrants.
Jessica McMaster“It’s hard for a lot of us to grasp that so many people, in positions of power, failed in such spectacular fashion to do their jobs.”
What insights did you come away with about the state of press freedom in Kansas and in the United States?
This was a massive failure by several people within the justice system. I think that’s what’s so shocking about this entire thing — most of us assume a police chief would understand press freedom laws. If a police chief doesn’t, we’d assume a county attorney would. If a county attorney doesn’t, we’d assume a district judge would. If no one understands these laws — surely someone will look it up. The amount of layers Gideon Cody’s attack on the newspaper survived is astonishing. What did all these people, who are supposed to understand the law, think the response would be? I think it’s hard for a lot of us to grasp that so many people, in positions of power, failed in such spectacular fashion to do their jobs.
Do you think the raid had an ongoing chilling effect on journalism?
I think the chilling effect comes from a culmination of attacks that have been launched against the free press over the past several years. We’ve seen this play out in other instances, during protests for example, where police assault or arrest journalists for doing their jobs. I think Marion was another example of that.
Despite your award-winning work on the raid and all the other great work you’ve done, less than two years after the raid, your position at KSHB-TV, Kansas City’s NBC affiliate, was eliminated. What does that say about the state of the news industry and whether local investigative reporting is valued these days?
The company I worked for always valued investigative journalism — it’s why I stayed in my position for a decade. I think what we’re seeing is that many local newsrooms are becoming more and more risk averse. I personally felt this shift over the past few years. When newsrooms operate from a place of fear, it’s very difficult for reporters to do their job, especially investigative reporters who, by nature, do more high-risk, accountability-focused stories.
What’s next for you? I saw that your X post about the layoff said your time as an investigative journalist was coming to an end. Are you done with journalism or are you going to look for a way back in? And why?
I love journalism. I believe in its purpose. I believe in its power. We need solid journalists who aren’t afraid to hold the powerful accountable. That said, I don’t see myself stepping back into a newsroom. At least not anytime soon. I took the summer off to focus on my kids and reflect on what I want to do next, which has been such a gift. I plan to keep writing and creating content for something I believe in.
Journalists often feel like covering press freedom stories is difficult, because they’re making themselves the story or because their objectivity will be questioned, for example. What do you say to that, and what’s your advice to journalists and editors wondering whether it’s a good idea to report on press freedom violations?
Stick to the facts. That’s my advice. While I didn’t initially know why police raided the newspaper, I knew this was fundamentally wrong. I knew police should’ve served a subpoena, as opposed to busting down the doors. I knew the free press has protections, both locally and federally. All of that gave me grounds to cover this story. It can be uncomfortable reporting on something so closely tied to our personal lives — but if journalists are not willing to report on the ongoing attacks against the free press, who will?
