Reporters, your questions to District agencies might now be answered.

Mayor Vince Gray's chief spokeswoman Linda Wharton-Boyd told the media contacts for city agencies at a recent meeting that they're free to answer reporters questions, a source who attended a meeting told The Washington Examiner. There is one caveat, the spokesmen and women were instructed to send their comments to Wharton-Boyd before sending them out to reporters.

But if the spokespeople don't hear back in 20 minutes they can respond on their own. And over time, Wharton-Boyd reportedly said, the department representatives will be able to answer enirely on their own.

If Gray's office follows through, this would be a huge shift from the days of Mayor Adrian Fenty, when reporters were told to contact Fenty's spokeswoman directly with any question. Questions were then rarely answered.