The Fullerton City Council in California voted on April 1, 2025, to approve a policy restricting the display of news publications in city facilities, other than a single news rack in the public library.
The Los Angeles Times reported that the council’s decision came after a new local blog, Friends For Fullerton’s Future, emailed Jan. 13 to request a news rack be installed in the lobby of the Fullerton City Hall for a planned print edition.
A news rack in City Hall has long distributed a community newspaper, the Fullerton Observer, and a California State University, Fullerton, student newspaper, the Daily Titan.
After its review, the council approved, 4-1, a policy that restricted permitted materials to only those published by the city, government agencies, public utilities and select educational institutions.
In its resolution, the council said that the city has an interest in ensuring that public facilities “do not transform into public forums through unmanaged distribution of private or non-governmental materials.” With the vote, the council directed its staff to draft a policy regarding the display and distribution of materials in city-owned facilities.
During the April 1 meeting, city officials noted that a similar ban was in place in two other Orange County cities — Irvine and Newport Beach, LAist reported.
After the meeting, council member Ahmad Zahra, who voted against the ban, released a statement saying, “I believe this is an encroachment on our First Amendment right of free speech and opens our city to liability.” He noted that one city in Orange County — reported by the Times as San Juan Capistrano — rescinded a similar policy after it was sued.
“Further, this ban will remove our local newspapers from public view,” he added, “making it harder for residents—especially seniors, individuals with limited mobility, and those without internet access—to stay informed on local issues.”
The Daily Titan executive board, in a statement, called on the council to reconsider the ban, saying, “We strongly condemn this attack on press freedom and are tremendously proud of the fair and balanced journalism we provide to the Fullerton community. As student journalists, the Daily Titan for decades has provided an invaluable learning platform for aspiring journalists to prepare themselves to hold politicians and public officials accountable.”
In a separate editorial, the Titan’s board noted that the outlets impacted by the ban, including the Daily Titan, had reported critically on the city government. They added that the ban was an excessive step to take to address council members’ concerns that papers containing extreme material could be distributed at City Hall.
“To sacrifice the freedom of press to be displayed where it may best reach the populace in favor of a hypothetical is to burn the house down to kill a rat,” they wrote.
The Fullerton Observer reported April 22 that in light of discontent with the ban voiced by members of the community and some council members, the council planned to reconsider it at a May 6 meeting.
The Fullerton City Council, the Fullerton Observer and Friends For Fullerton’s Future did not respond to emailed requests for comment.
This content originally appeared on U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: Incident Database and was authored by U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: Incident Database.