Here’s a tip to other journalists covering the Clinton campaign from here on out: Do not identify yourself as a journalist. Simple as that. Hide your credentials; do not whip out your notepad; put your camera in your pocket; do not sign the media sign-in sheet. Because that way, the Clintonistas will not be able to ID you as working press and do their damnedest to guarantee you can’t actually work, unless you’re willing to do it on a barricaded riser away from the actual people attending the event. Sorry, lady, ain’t in the transcribing business — especially when your guy didn’t say much besides the usual blah-blah-blah.
“Excuse me, you have to get behind the barricade,” said a Clinton campaign worker who softly grabbed my arm about 30 minutes before Clinton finally showed. She pointed to the riser upon which the local TV outlets had perched their cameras. When I asked why I had to move, she said it was to keep cameramen from lugging their tools through the crowd. “But all I have is this notebook and this pen,” I said, standing next to a Clinton supporter and Unfair Park reader with whom I’d just been speaking.
