Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Two days after “Re-Launch” — Hillary Clinton’s Campaign Runs Aground with the Press — Again

Hillary Clinton’s already strained relationship with the media worsened today after David Martosko of the Daily Mail — the designated pool reporter for the day — was twice [thrice, counting a late-reported evening event] denied access to cover Clinton’s campaign events


Banning a reporter from the “Press Pool” causes backlash from irate press  —   Boston papers lash Hillary Clinton campaign for actions in neighboring New Hampshire  —   National Press Corps scolds Clinton Campaign


Statement by media organizations including the New York Daily News, Politico, New York Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe and Wall Street Journal  — “We haven’t yet had a clear explanation about why the pool reporter for today’s events was denied access. But any attempt by the campaign to dictate who is in the pool is unacceptable....”  

Doubling down at an evening event, Hillary Clinton’s Campaign dug its heels in against the Press Pool’s reporter — and looks like it dug a deeper hole with the rest of the press


In a blown attempt to keep Hillary Clinton in a “bubble” and shielded from possible hostile questioning, the now obviously atrocious Clinton Presidential Campaign has again become a significant part of the story instead of the candidate or her message

Here’s how Politico reported on the most recent Hillary Clinton Campaign press flap: “The Hillary Clinton campaign denied access to the print pool reporter on Monday, reigniting reporters' longstanding concerns about the campaign's commitment to running an open and transparent campaign....  David Martosko, the U.S. political editor for London's Daily Mail, reported showing up at the campaign's breakfast stop in New Hampshire only to be told that he would not be allowed to pool the day's events. Pool reporters are responsible for sending reports from the trail to the rest of the press corps....  ‘Your pooler showed up at the Puritan Backroom in Manchester on a rainy New Hampshire morning at 7:45 and was greeted in the parking lot by Meredith Thatcher, a press staffer with the New Hampshire Democratic Party. Thatcher told your pooler that he wasn’t the approved print pool reporter for today’s pooled events,’ Martosko reported in his first pool report. (Note: Thatcher is actually a press staffer for "Hillary for New Hampshire," not the state's Democratic Party.)...  ‘Asked to call her boss, Harrell Kirstein, she did so and then reported: “So I'm afraid it's a no. You're not on the list.” She said [campaign press secretary] Nick Merrill should be phoned with questions,’ Martosko continued. ‘Asked if the print pooler was being prohibited from getting on either of the pool vans, Thatcher replied: “I'm afraid that's right.” Asked why, she responded: “All I know is what Harrell has told me. I got an email saying the print pooler would be changed for today. Sorry.”... ’   Denied a ride in the pool van, Martosko told Thatcher that he would drive to the first campaign stop in Rochester on his own, ‘in the hope that things would be sorted out during the 75-minute drive.’..." (See “Clinton campaign denies access to pool reporter” by Dylan Byers, 6/15/15, Politico/ Dylan Byers On Media
[http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2015/06/clinton-campaign-denies-access-to-pool-reporter-208839.html]).  The rest of Politico’s media column by Mr. Byers indicated that the problem was not resolved vis a vis Mr. Martosko, yesterday’s pool reporter; and it dealt with some lengthy and various complicated explanations and excuses by the Hillary Clinton Campaign “Traveling Press Secretary,” Nick Merrill.

BOSTON PAPERS JUMP ON CLINTON CAMPAIGN FOR EVENTS IN THEIR BACK YARD


THE BOSTON GLOBE COVERAGE

According to a report by Annie Linskey in the Boston Globe, “Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential campaign Monday banned a representative from the national print pool from attending any of her events in New Hampshire, a development that will make coverage for her trip to New Hampshire spotty for some of the country’s largest print outlets....”
(See “Clinton campaign bans national pool reporter from N.H. events” by Annie Linskey & Globe Staff, 6/15/15, Boston Globe [https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2015/06/15/hillary-clinton-campaign-barred-national-pool-reporter-from-new-hampshire-events/EgANuZJ7EnNAjZnKiKxcJO/story.html]).

Annie Linskey’s article goes on to state that, “....  ‘We need to rethink it all, maybe for a day,’ Merrill told David Martosko, a reporter for the Daily Mail, according to the reporter’s account of the conversation sent to other outlets in the national pool. ‘And just cool things off until we can have a discussion.’...   The flap is the latest flashpoint between the Clinton campaign and the political press corps....”

As a rather clear signal that this is a big deal, the Boston Globe coverage included this: “....  On Monday evening, the news organizations representing Hillary Clinton’s traveling press pool released a statement on the matter, underscoring ‘the pool is open to any print organization willing to take part.’...   ‘We would like to see all campaign events open to the public and the full press corps, but when that is not possible we have agreed to pool coverage,’ said the 14 news organizations. ‘We haven’t yet had a clear explanation about why the pool reporter for today’s events was denied access. But any attempt by the campaign to dictate who is in the pool is unacceptable.’...”

THE BOSTON HERALD COVERAGE

Meanwhile, another Boston newspaper weighed in with this on its blog: “All 14 news organizations that comprise Hillary Clinton’s traveling press pool are protesting the campaign’s decision to ban a reporter from two out of three public events today in New Hampshire....  ‘We would like to see all campaign events open to the public and the full press corps, but when that is not possible we have agreed to pool coverage,’ reads a statement by media organizations including the New York Daily News, Politico, New York Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe and Wall Street Journal. ‘We haven’t yet had a clear explanation about why the pool reporter for today’s events was denied access. But any attempt by the campaign to dictate who is in the pool is unacceptable.’...   Clinton’s already strained relationship with the media worsened today after David Martosko of the Daily Mail -- the designated pool reporter for the day -- was twice denied access to cover Clinton’s campaign events....”  (See “Press protests Clinton campaign ban” by Chris Cassidy, 6/15/15, Boston Herald/ Herald Bulldog First on the Street  [http://www.bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/herald_bulldog/2015/06/press_protests_clinton_campaign_ban]).

Chris Cassidy’s article for the Herald also noted, “Because of the size of the media pack that covers Clinton, the campaign restricts some small-scale events as “pool only,” where one or two reporters are designated to cover and then dispatch reports to all other media....   It's the only 2016 presidential campaign to use such a system....”

The remainder of the Boston Herald’s coverage largely tracked the stories recounted by the othe media outlets cited above in this post, except for the following bit.

CLINTON  CAMPAIGN  DOUBLES DOWN AGAINST POOL REPORTER AT EVENING EVENT IN MANCHESTER, N.H.

The Boston Herald report also contained this late item about an evening confrontation between Hillary  Clinton’s Campaign and the Daily Telegraph’s David Martosko:  “You need to leave,” a campaign aide told Martosko tonight when he tried to cover a Clinton speech at a dinner hosted by Manchester Democrats, according to the pool report Martosko sent out.

4 comments:

  1. UPDATE & BACKFILL: THE "MORE ABOUT HILLARY CLINTON’S ATTEMPTS AT CENSORSHIP” EDITION

    HUFFINGTON POST’S ARTICLE ABOUT THE DAVID MARTOSKO


    Michael Calderone at “The Huffington Post” tells us that, “Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign prohibited a Daily Mail journalist from covering its Monday event in Manchester, New Hampshire, as the designated print pool reporter, marking the latest spat with the press over access.... McClatchy's Anita Kumar tweeted that Clinton's press vans left for the event without Daily Mail U.S. Political Editor David Martosko, who was scheduled to cover it and provide a pool report to journalists unable to attend because of space limitations.... The Clinton traveling press corps, like the White House Correspondents' Association, has established a pool rotation for campaign events that can't accommodate large numbers of journalists. Traditionally, journalists, rather than the campaign or administration being covered, decide who serves as pool reporter for the group. So journalists unsurprisingly took issue with the campaign's decision....” (See “Clinton Campaign Denies Access To Daily Mail Pool Reporter In Latest Dispute With Press” by Michael Calderone, 6/15/15 [updated 9:59 PM] Huffington Post [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/15/clinton-daily-mail_n_7585302.html]).

    Calderone also gave us this insight to one of the reporters in the Clinton press pool: “ ‘Memo to the Clinton campaign: pools control themselves,’ tweeted Time's Zeke Miller....”

    The article also revealed that “.... The Daily Mail, in its own story on the incident, suggested that Clinton spokesman Nick Merrill gave multiple reasons for Martosko's exclusion, contradicting himself in the effort to provide the campaign's rationale. First, the story said, Merrill suggested the U.K.-based outlet couldn't participate because it was a foreign news organization. But the Daily Mail is part of the 14-member traveling press pool covering Clinton, along with The Guardian and Agence France-Presse, both foreign outlets....” It also reported that the Clinton Campaign said it was trying to work things out.

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  2. Don't believe any Clinton Campaign lies. David Martosko was specifically and personally targeted both for his current work at the Daily Mail and for his earlier work at the Daily Caller.

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  3. UPDATE AND BACKFILL: THE “AND SO IT GOES” EDITION

    DID THE HILLARY CLINTON CAMPAIGN ACTUALLY THINK THAT ITS ATTEMPTED BLACK-BALLING OF THE “POOL REPORTER,” DAVID MARTOSKO OF THE DAILY MAIL, WOULD GO DOWN ANY OTHER WAY ? ? ?

    PANEL ON MSNBC’S MORNING JOE SCARBROUGH PROGRAM LETS HILLARY CLINTON KNOW: “IT IS NOT THAT HARD, JUST LET THE REPORTER INTO THE EVENT...”

    This morning MSNBC’s Morning Joe Scabrough, Mika Brzezinski, and Nicholas Confessore of the New York Times did a segment that took the Hillary Clinton's camp to task for denying access to pool reporter David Martosko of the Daily Mail ( See “MSNBC panel rips Clinton camp over denying access to Daily Mail reporter” posted by the Washington Free Beacon [with video link], You Tube [https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=26&v=s3tru6175NI])

    Here’s text of a small part of that of that segment:
    “....
    MIKA BRZEZINSKI: More than a dozen print new media outlets (including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post) are expressing frustration with the Clinton campaign after a [POOL] reporter wasn't allowed to cover an event... David Mark-Tosco [sic] of the Daily Mail, who was designated pool reporter for the Clinton campaign in New Hampshire says the Secret Service wouldn't let him go to the first pool's event on Monday... So was anyone allowed in?

    MSNBC PANELIST [Nicholas Confessore]: It isn't actually that hard. Just let the reporter in to the event. The event is going to be her talking and doing her event. There isn't a huge loss to anybody...

    JOE SCARBROUGH: I think the Daily Mail, Alex was telling me also, they were the ones that reported that Hillary was busing in people for their "Meet The People" deal they also beat the NY Times to the story we were all talking about a couple of days ago....”
    ( See “ 'Morning Joe' Panel To Hillary Clinton: 'It Is Not That Hard, Just Let The Reporter In To The Event' ” posted by Tim Hains, 6/16/15, Real Clear Politics Video [http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2015/06/16/morning_joe_panel_to_hillary_clinton_it_is_not_that_hard_just_let_the_reporter_in_to_the_event.html]).

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  4. BACKFILL: THE “LOCAL PRESS AND THEIR READERS GET THE WORD” EDITION

    “NH ANGLE” REPORTS ABOUT HILLARY CLINTON’S STRONG-ARM TACTICS WITH THE PRESS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE

    According to a report from the “NH Angle” — “The victim was David Martosko of the London Daily Mail, formerly an executive editor of the Daily Caller....” (See “Hillary campaign sends chilling message to media booting reporter from 'print pool' in N.H.” link to Newsbusters, 6/15/15, NH Angle [http://www.unionleader.com/article/20150615/AGGREGATION/150619442#sthash.YJDnRNG6.dpuf]; source material from Newsbusters, 6/15/15 [http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tim-graham/2015/06/15/breaking-hillary-campaign-denies-former-daily-caller-editor-access-print]).

    “NH Angle is a news and information aggregation by staff and audience of the New Hampshire Union Leader, The Goffstown News, The Bedford Bulletin, The Hooksett Banner and The Salem Observer....” ( See more at [http://www.unionleader.com/article/20150615/AGGREGATION/150619442#sthash.YJDnRNG6.dpuf]).

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