The John Locke Foundation was on the do-not-call-back list, according to the former public affairs director for the Department of Health and Human Services.

In an interview Tuesday, the day she was fired, Debbie Crane said the governor's office told state public information officers not to return calls from the conservative think-tank.

"There are certain people you're not supposed to talk to, like if the John Locke Foundation calls, you're not supposed to return their calls," Crane said. "Basically we just sort of tried to ignore that or go a back way but you weren't supposed to return the John Locke Foundation's calls."

Gov. Mike Easley's press office has not responded to a request for comment on Crane's comment.

Crane's comments weren't a surprise to those who work for The Carolina Journal, a newspaper owned by the foundation.

"I suspected something like that was going on, but I didn't think that everyone would actuallly act that way," said Don Carrington, the newspaper's executive editor. "We have a giant hurdle to go over just to produce stories because of the way they treat us."

Carrington said state public information officers rarely answer questions from the newspaper's reporters.

Paul Chesser, a contributing editor, said public information officers are often keen on asking why a reporter wants information.

"It's none of their business why we're after something," Chesser said. "At lot of times in my experience I've found these agencies and these PIOs part of a public obstruction office rather than a public information office."