After loudly proclaiming their right to better space in the state Capitol press warrens, The Uptake has accepted the state's offer of their old digs back.

The compromise temporarily quiets a controversy over whether the citizen journalism video site, run by lefties but a source of live-streamed political video for everyone, can work cheek-by-jowl with more traditional "objective" organizations. However, the brouhaha prompted the state Department of Administration, which controls the space, to announce a sweeping review of lease-granting policies — which has several media organizations worried the entire press corps might be ejected.

The dispute arose in late March, after the state Department of Administration and The Uptake signed a deal to move the group's video cabinet out of a cramped press-room hallway into an office shared by KARE-TV and the Rochester Post-Bulletin. The Post-Bulletin objected, complaining that The Uptake was "not a non-partisan news site" and could "access ... information about what many of the news organizations are working on with no guarantee someone else’s work won’t appear on their site or be Tweeted via Twitter."

The state cancelled the lease one day after it was signed — invoking a 30-day notice requirement that could have removed The Uptake from the area entirely. However at the time, Administration also offered the group a chance to return to the original hallway arrangement. Uptake management rejected the offer, saying the state could not Constitutionally discriminate on the basis of real or perceived ideology, and it was entitled to the vacant office space.

On the final day of the notice period Monday — facing expulsion with several weeks to go in the legislative session — The Uptake gave in, accepting the state's terms.

So, Uptake executive director Jason Barnett, did you blink? 

"We did not blink. We took the best option available to us at the time with the resources we have," Barnett replied. "The bigger challenge now is not just to The Uptake, but to the entire press corps. We had to do best for The Uptake, keep our live streams available, and continue the fight when we can."

Barnett says the new (or renewed) deal was signed in good faith by both parties, and he doesn't expect state retaliation. Assuming the press corps is allowed to stay, Barnett says The Uptake plans to again push for the office space, which will remain vacant until the review is completed.