I doubted the allegation that Ryan Lizza was barred from the Obama plane as soon as I heard it breathlessly reported as fact. Steve Chapman did one better, and asked the Obama campaign directly.
As a longtime member of the press, I’m always sensitive to any sign a politician is punishing journalists for doing their jobs. So my ears pricked up at the story that Barack Obama’s campaign had retaliated against The New Yorker magazine for its Obama-as-terrorist cover by excluding reporter Ryan Lizza from the press plane on the senator’s Middle East trip.
So I emailed Obama’s media people to ask for a list of journalists who are accompanying him. It turns out almost all the reporters are from TV networks or newspapers–those who cover him week in and week out. Only three magazines were represented: Time, Newsweek and Ebony.
Of the 200 journalists who applied, the campaign says it could take only 40. Among those denied were The Economist, the Boston Globe and the Financial Times. Some of the publications that were included, the campaign says, didn’t get as many seats as they requested.
I would be surprised if Lizza were barred as payback. In my numerous dealings with the Obama press people, they have always been cordial and helpful–even after their previous efforts were rewarded with a piece criticizing their boss on some issue or another. My Sunday column slammed him for his opposition to school vouchers. Yet on Monday morning, they responded quickly and helpfully to my inquiry.
As Mr. Chapman points out, the Obama team let Maureen Dowd fly, and she has been one of the worst Obama snipers.