Let's face it. A reporter who has no access to the powers that be in a government isn't going to get too many stories. But governments can block access to the entire press corps too, such as what happened Friday at The White House:
Here's the backstory...the Dali Lama visited the President, which China hated. So the WH tried to diminish coverage by refusing access to the reporters. Instead they distributed a news release and this photo:
Access is even more of an issue in small-town journalism. If a paper or TV or radio station offends there, it doesn't take much for a key advertiser to two to sink the place.
Politicians have banned reporters from certain outlets, or refused to take questions from them or about certain topics at news conferences...like the new New York City Mayor who would not take any questions about his entourage breaking traffic laws.
And Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker was also ducking questions last week.
Here in Montgomery, we had a guest scheduled for last Friday--one of the "Housewives" reality show series stars, who ended up a no-show (with no notice to us), but to whom we were told to ask ONLY about the book she was hawking.
I wasn't doing the interview, but got curious and googled her for recent developments.
My head hurts from reading the tabloid story.
[PLUS: An Oops from FOX Sports on their broadcast of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday.]
[The Monday Morning Media Memo is a regular feature of TimLennox.com]
"Once again, this amounts to propaganda and is not open access by the people's press to the people's business. We are hopeful this will be the last such instance of such unprecedented restriction,"
David Boardman of the American Society of News Editors and Debra Adams Simmons of the Associated Press Managing Editors
Here's the backstory...the Dali Lama visited the President, which China hated. So the WH tried to diminish coverage by refusing access to the reporters. Instead they distributed a news release and this photo:
Access is even more of an issue in small-town journalism. If a paper or TV or radio station offends there, it doesn't take much for a key advertiser to two to sink the place.
Politicians have banned reporters from certain outlets, or refused to take questions from them or about certain topics at news conferences...like the new New York City Mayor who would not take any questions about his entourage breaking traffic laws.
And Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker was also ducking questions last week.
Here in Montgomery, we had a guest scheduled for last Friday--one of the "Housewives" reality show series stars, who ended up a no-show (with no notice to us), but to whom we were told to ask ONLY about the book she was hawking.
I wasn't doing the interview, but got curious and googled her for recent developments.
My head hurts from reading the tabloid story.
[PLUS: An Oops from FOX Sports on their broadcast of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday.]
[The Monday Morning Media Memo is a regular feature of TimLennox.com]
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