Obama campaign bans Ryan Lizza

Totally f-ing bush league. Indefensible.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/21/obamas-revenge-emnew-york_n_113969.html

 

Not only is it a D_B, but a locked D_B.
Good luck with keeping yours open...

http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/threads/58918/

 

Yes, they "banned" him along with 159 other reporters who did not receive credentials to fly on Obama's plane. To recap: 200 applied and 40 were chosen. I don't know about you, but I don't see the story there, regardless if it's Obama or McCain. I suppose it's a good starting point to express outrage about if that's your ultimate goal.

 

It's definitely a story. Lizza has been following Obama for awhile now, and has written some excellent articles. The New Yorker is a weekly that devotes a lot of ink to this campaign. The New Yorker has also covered the "war on terror" better than anyone, not to mention the Israel-Palestinian skirmishes. It's obviously a payback move.

 

How many of those others just published a 15,000-word piece on him?

 

It's simple. If they are keeping the New Yorker off the plane because of the cartoon, it's an abuse of power. If it's for some other reason -- and not just one used as an excuse -- then it's not terrible.

Either way, since this has come out, the Obama campaign should come out and say this isn't payback -- which is what the Bush administration is so good at. Why, hello Valerie, that's a lovely scarf.

 

To say that this was payback when four out of every five reporters who applied were rejected does not make any sense to me, especially without the context of how they usually dole out credentials.

Very few of those others published a 15,000-word piece on him, because very few publications have that kind of space. I'm not sure what your point is with the word count, but it sounds like a red herring.

 

An abuse of power? Do you mean the power to choose who rides on your airplane?

 

Of course it's a story.

But of course it will get locked.

 

The Washington Post is on the plane, and its editorial board ripped Obama last week.

 

Who pays for the flights? Campaign? News outlets? I know the logistics are a nightmare, but are 2 planes not feasible?

 

I'm an Obama guy, but if you don't think this is some kind of payback, you're naive or just uninformed. Not banning the Washington Post isn't the same. You can't ban the Post, that would be political suicide. And a slam in the Op-Ed page is not the same as the New Yorker cover they're pissed about.

Obama, and his campaign staff, have been annoyed by Lizza's reporting before, and they're trying to send a message. You can ban the New Yorker, because it's a magazine, not a paper of record, like the WaPo.

EDIT: While I still think it was a slap to Lizza, the more I think about it, I wonder if the New Yorker even needs to be there, seeing as Lizza writes more big-picture stuff and this trip would do nothing but give him a small story for the front and provide color and some anecdotes for a future story. Also, not sure how long ago they made decisions on who goes, who doesn't.