As members of both political parties have gathered for endorsing conventions this spring, there’s been an increase in efforts to boot out reporters and bloggers from the events.
It appears to have happened more at Republican events, but both sides have sent journalists and partisan bloggers packing _ particularly if they have audio and video equipment. In recent weeks journalists from the St. Cloud Times and Minnesota Public Radio have been excluded from local party conventions.
Representatives of the state Republican and Democratic parties say they support openness, but decisions on access to local conventions are made strictly by officials in those areas.
The decisions have irked bloggers from both sides of the partisan divide, who believe the doors should be left open to anyone who wants to cover a convention and is willing to abide by the rules.
"Whoever’s making these decisions is really out of touch," said Jane Kirtley, a professor of media ethics and law at the University of Minnesota. "If you want to have accurate coverage of an event, you simply can’t exclude the media writ large. If the political parties want to be relevant to young people, they have to stop acting like an old boys’ club of 1870."
The first reported instance came about a month ago, when organizers of the Republicans’ 6th Congressional District convention barred a St. Cloud Times reporter’s video camera and a Minnesota Public Radio Reporter’s tape recorder. According to an MPR report about the incident, organizers rationale was that they "don’t like how audio and video has been edited and posted on sites like YouTube in the past, so we now prohibit media taping."
John Bodette, executive editor of the St. Cloud Times, objected.
"There is an alarming increase in people trying to control what devices will be allowed into news events and how often online news stories or blogs can be updated," he wrote in an online column. "It’s all about control. These moves also raise red flags for journalists because we wonder what people want to hide or block access to."
But similar expulsions or camera bans followed, at the DFL’s 1st and 2nd Congressional District conventions, at the GOP’s 1st District convention and at the GOP’s District 42B convention.
Partisan bloggers who square off on most issues find themselves on the same page in arguing for full access.
"These conventions should be open to bloggers from both political parties," said Michael Brodkorb, the Republican blogger behind Minnesota Democrats Exposed. "Sure, it’s their (convention organizers’) right to set their own rules, but if you follow the rules, let people cover it."
Michael McIntee, executive producer of the Uptake, a progressive blog, said politicians and their supporters have grown more wary after numerous examples where candidates made embarassing, off-the-cuff remarks that were later replayed endlessly on YouTube or other Web sites.
"But set the rules and we’ll follow them," McIntee said. "Without sunlight, all sorts of stuff happens. And when there’s no coverage, people will always feel someone’s pulling something."
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Information from: Star Tribune, http://www.startribune.com
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