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from the shouting-questions-in-a-crowded-hallway dept.
John M. Donnelly, a senior writer at CQ Roll Call, said he was trying to talk with FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly one-on-one after a news conference when two plainclothes guards pinned him against a wall with the backs of their bodies.
“Not only did they get in between me and O’Rielly but they put their shoulders together and simultaneously backed me up into the wall and pinned me to the wall for about 10 seconds just as I started to say, “Commissioner O’Rielly, I have a question,” Donnelly said Friday.
Donnelly said he was stopped long enough to allow O’Rielly to walk away.
Donnelly, who also happens to be chair of the National Press Club Press Freedom team, said he was then forced out of the building after being asked why he had not posed his question during the news conference.
O'Rielly apologized to Donnelly on Twitter, saying he didn't recognize Donnelly in the hallway. "I saw security put themselves between you, me and my staff. I didn't see anyone put a hand on you. I'm sorry this occurred."
According to the publication for which the reporter works (archived copy),
Senators, including Judiciary Chairman Charles E. Grassley, are warning the Federal Communications Commission about its treatment of reporters after a CQ Roll Call reporter was manhandled Thursday.
“The Federal Communications Commission needs to take a hard look at why this happened and make sure it doesn’t happen again. As The Washington Post pointed out, it’s standard operating procedure for reporters to ask questions of public officials after meetings and news conferences,” the Iowa Republican said. “It happens all day, every day. There’s no good reason to put hands on a reporter who’s doing his or her job.”
Additional coverage:
- The Verge
- New York TImes
- Variety
- Time
- Washington Examiner
- New York Daily News
- The Hill
- The Hill
- CBS News
- HuffPost
- Daily Caller
- Vice Motherboard
- Mic
- Ars Technica
- The Meridian Star (Meridian, Mississippi; opinion)
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(Score: -1, Flamebait) by frojack on Saturday May 20 2017, @08:19PM (18 children)
Got in the way for ten whole seconds.
I have no doubt this reporter was being the usual arrogant shouter trying to get his rendition of the same exact question already asked and answered in the press conference. If fact the youtube shows exactly that.
The guy kind of reminds me of Buthurt, who piles on link after repetitive link on the end his stories as if the same liberal press story is somehow more believable in the echo chamber of a thousand links all saying the same thing.
Buthurt: Stop that.
Editors: Put a stop to that. He's just playing link bait for biased press.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 20 2017, @08:58PM (13 children)
I'd be interested in your quoting the part of the First Amendment that says violating Freedom of The Press is OK if you only do it for 10 seconds.
piles on link after repetitive link
Yeah. I've said before that including a link but not quoting from that page just adds bulk to the submission without adding information.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Saturday May 20 2017, @09:22PM (3 children)
I'm more interested in your justification for chasing an official down after he leaves a press conference, to interrogate him at your own leisure. There are established protocols for this stuff, you realize?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 20 2017, @09:46PM
You never heard the term "public servant"?
How about "I pay your salary"?
I made a submission about a way to deal with Congresscritters who duck out on/avoid town hall meetings in their districts.
With GOP Reps in Hiding After Trumpcare Vote, Dems "Adopt" Those Districts [soylentnews.org]
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 5, Informative) by http on Saturday May 20 2017, @10:06PM (1 child)
You are almost right that there are protocols. FTFS:
Just so there's no misunderstanding, the direct quote from the WP article: "Seeking to question officials after news conferences is standard practice for journalists in Washington."
I know thinking is hard and thirty seconds is a long time, but please - do so before each post.
I browse at -1 when I have mod points. It's unsettling.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 21 2017, @09:10PM
That happens all the time with the president, doesn't it? What needs to happen, is for some papparazzi to be shot down like dogs, for harassing people. Then, the courts need to make sure that the body guards are acquitted. Put just a little chill on overly exuberant "reporters". If the low-life papparazzi deaths don't send the proper message, then the Secret Service can target a couple lower-caste "reporters" in Washington.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Saturday May 20 2017, @09:41PM (5 children)
I don't think freedom of the press means what you think it does. Did you skip the 6th grade?
All it means is they won't be prosecuted for printing government secrets.
It doesn't give them special access, the right to go anywhere at anytime and accost any government employee at will.
Time for you to go back to school.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 20 2017, @10:11PM
It would be interesting for you to point to a similar defense of a public servant done by you during a Democrat administration.
...and it's sad when people don't know history.
Reporters shouting questions at passing officials is as old as time itself.
Ronnie Raygun would mime that he couldn't make out the question.
It's all a part of the game.
Even Reactionary Reagan didn't have thugs get physical with reporters.
That part is a more recent addition.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by butthurt on Sunday May 21 2017, @12:27AM (3 children)
The First Amendment also encompasses "freedom of speech." Asking a question would be encompassed by that, I should think.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Sunday May 21 2017, @03:00AM (2 children)
Nobody prevented him from speaking.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by butthurt on Sunday May 21 2017, @03:14AM (1 child)
I would imagine that being pinned against a wall would be likely to impede someone's speech. Mr. O'Reilly gave a different account of what happened. You say you've seen a video, and I asked where that was, but you didn't answer.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 21 2017, @09:13PM
Keep imagining. An unauthorized person wandering through a government building may expect to be pinned to the wall - maybe even permanently. Just stick some knives through his arms and legs, pin him to the wall like a butterfly. Leave his rotting corpse right there on the wall, as a warning to the next fool to come along.
(Score: 2) by Arik on Saturday May 20 2017, @09:50PM (2 children)
And I'd be interested in finding out how you think this situation amounts to making a law abridging the freedom of the press.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 20 2017, @11:26PM (1 child)
In what way is legal physical restraint of the press in public areas not a law abridging the freedom of the press?
It is hard to imagine a more literal demonstration freedom being abridged.
You authoritards are ridiculously servile.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 21 2017, @09:14PM
Servile? Let me serve you some tube steak, you little whiny bitch.
(Score: 2) by butthurt on Saturday May 20 2017, @09:52PM
> [...] as if the same liberal press story is somehow more believable in the echo chamber of a thousand links all saying the same thing. [...] He's just playing link bait for biased press.
I do have my biases, but I try to be fair. In a recent submission I quoted from the National Review and linked to the New York Post. Perhaps you prefer publications that are farther to the right, or perhaps you didn't bother to consider that story, which ran yesterday, in your evaluation of me?
/politics/article.pl?sid=17/05/19/2250233 [soylentnews.org]
For this story, please confirm: you're saying that the Daily Caller and the Meridian Star out of Meridian, Mississippi are too liberal? Who covered this story in a way that you would accept?
(Score: 2) by butthurt on Sunday May 21 2017, @01:30AM
> If fact the youtube shows exactly that.
Link, please?
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 21 2017, @08:30AM (1 child)
To go offtopic, this kind of shit from long time established users is one reason I will not donate to this site. It is a soapbox for authoritarian apologists promoting a future police state. On one hand many users will cry about freedom of speech and surveillance, but then they turn around and applaud actions such as this.
Sure SN may be uncensored, but censorship does take on a cultural aspect as well. The sheer level of bullshit promoted in the comments is daunting, and I'm not sure I want to fund a soapbox for such people. Discussions are often sidetracked into bullshit arguments, with the more vocal users never responding when finally called out for their shit.
Tell me to fuck off all you want, call me a snowflake or whatever makes you feel better, but this site IS becoming an echo chamber for the libertarian / alt right. There are very vocal opponents to this worldview, but the steady hammering of close minded responses is driving people away. Suspected admin abuse for moderation and IP tracking has been voiced before, which to me is not surprising. Hell, in a recent thread one user said that a spam moderation was inappropriate, and TMB responded with "handled". Let users counter-mod if they believe something to be incorrectly modded, but that instance made me question how many comments have been modified by admin abuse. Many geeks who run their own systems are the fiefdom types (no I'm not the AC who started of the fuck SN thread in the updates article) who enjoy their special privileges. Given TMBs history of trolling / lies I would not think it unlikely for him to mod comments to counter suspected "brigading".
Unless SN can do something to alleviate these potential problems and concerns then I will not every subscribe. Perhaps log all official actions and make them publicly visible. Also, develop some methods of preventing admin abuse. It was stated that IPs are not logged / tracked, but TMB recently revealed that the IPs are stored as hashes, and with some work could be unveiled. I have my own reasons to suspect he does some personal tracking of AC comments. Again, address these concerns and bring back the trust that is supposedly so sacrosanct. With troll admins like TMB it is simply too much to ask for simple faith.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday May 21 2017, @09:19PM
Oh, but of course, it's not an echo chamber for the progressive left, now is it?