Golden City Council listened to a large volume of public comment during its City Council meeting Aug. 21 in regard to a planned visit by Al Jazeera English television network as part of its coverage of the Democratic National Convention next week. Ultimately, City Manager Mike Bestor revoked the invitation he had previously extended as a private citizen to the controversial news network to conduct interviews from a barbecue at his home.

Al Jazeera English planned to do a handful of live broadcasts and a couple of pre-recorded packages from Golden as sidebar coverage to the convention in order to illustrate the diversity of political opinions among “regular Americans” on a number of issues, such as health care and the environment. The City of Golden did not seek them out or invite Al Jazeera, but treated them professionally, as they would any news agency.

City Manager Mike Bestor explained that he had made the invitation to host the barbecue as a private citizen, believing that doing so would enable him to ensure that that a representative group of Golden citizens were interviewed and that Golden would be fairly represented. He said he believed that hosting such a discussion of the issues was an excellent way to illustrate democracy to the rest of the world and to show that neighbors can disagree politically and still work together toward the good of their community.

However, after listening to the thoughtful comments of many citizens on both sides of the issue, Bestor said he realized that his position as the City Manager inadvertently tied his personal invitation to Al Jazeera to the City and the Council. He also said that he was “sorry for the divisiveness this has caused in the community” and that he had not intended in any way to insult or disrespect the many brave veterans and men and women currently serving this country in the Armed Forces. As such, he revoked the invitation he had previously extended to Al Jazeera.

City Council commended Bestor for his attention and responsiveness to citizens’ concerns. After hearing considerable feedback via email and at its meeting both for and against Al Jazeera’s plans, the Golden City Council maintains the position that the First Amendment protects the right of everyone in the United States to believe as they wish and to express those beliefs, and the right of the press to report news without government interference.  The City of Golden doesn't have the right to restrict or prohibit Al Jazeera or any other news agency from broadcasting out of the City, whether we approve of their coverage or not, whether we share their perspectives or not, whether we find their coverage offensive or not.