Saturday, April 30, 2011

DNC Protest Filmed, Obama Administration Throws Down Gauntlet

By Douglas V. Gibbs

"We paid our dues, now where's our change," sang the protesters as Obama looked on from the stage. A San Francisco Chronicle reporter filmed the song, and the White House is not happy about it. Then, the Obama administration lied.

According to the White House, the San Francisco Chronicle reporter that filmed the protest at the DNC fundraiser broke the rules. The agreement, according to the Obama administration, was for the reporter to only use paper and pen as well as sharing her notes with the White House so that it may be distributed to other reporters. The newspaper says the Obama administration needs to join the 21st century.

I personally don't like the idea of the government dictating to reporters what they must and must not do in regards to their reports on the government. Feels kind of Soviet-like when the White House makes that kind of demands of reporters.

The reporter in question is Carla Marinucci, and the pool reporting arrangement she had agreed to is a common thing designed to limit the number of reporters at smaller events, while still giving all of the other reporters access to the notes taken by those that attended.

During Marinucci's coverage, about a half-dozen protesters attending the breakfast broke into a song chastising Obama for the government's treatment of Pfc. Bradley Manning, an Army intelligence analyst suspected of illegally passing government secrets to the WikiLeaks website.

Marinucci pulled out her ever-present small video recorder and captured video of the protest. The video was posted with her written story online. The White House complained, saying the agreement was that she would provide a print-only report.

Off the record, the Obama administration threatened Marinucci that she could lose future opportunities to cover presidential appearances. The White House then later threatened to freeze out Chronicle and other Hearst Newspaper chain reporters if they reported on the threat against Marinucci.

Josh Earnest, a White House spokesman, later said that officials made no such threat.

The president that claimed to be unlike any other politician, and a unifier, has turned out to be just another cockroach. Rather than being open and transparent, the Democrats have revealed themselves to be the thugs we knew they are.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

White House, newspaper clash over protest video - Associated Press, Yahoo News

Chronicle responds after Obama Administration punishes reporter for using multimedia, then claims they didn't - SF Gate

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