Romney slams Obama for denying Boston Herald Reporters access to fundraiser

From Gop Usa:

When Barack Obama showed up in Boston on Wednesday for a fundraiser, the Boston Herald was denied access. Why? Because two months ago, the newspaper ran an op-ed on its front page by Mitt Romney which was critical of Obama [the President's economic policies]...

When the newspaper tried to sign up for pool reporter duty ahead of Obama's visit to Boston, a White House spokesman questioned whether the newspaper could cover the president fairly:

"I tend to consider the degree to which papers have demonstrated to covering the White House regularly and fairly in determining local pool reporters," [White House] spokesman Matt Lehrich told the Herald in response to its request, according to the newspaper. "My point about the op-ed was not that you ran it, but that it was the full front page, which excluded any coverage of the visit of a sitting U.S. President to Boston. I think that raises a fair question about whether the paper is unbiased in its coverage of the President's visits."

However, in typical Obama administration fashion, the story soon changed, and another White House spokesman claimed that the Boston Herald reporter was excluded simply because there wasn't enough room...

The Boston Herald claims that the White House is engaging in "a troubling pattern of heavy-handed dealings with the press."

"It's always troubling when you have the administration deciding what's fair in the media or what is unfair because that clearly does create a situation where they are trying to select the coverage that they're going to receive," said Boston University College of Communication dean Tom Fiedler, who covered the White House as a reporter for the Miami Herald.

The Boston Herald first reported the story on Wednesday. In that report, journalist Hillary Chabot reminds readers that the Obama White House has a "history of controversial clashes with the press."

In April 2010, Bloomberg's Ed Chen, president of the White House Correspondent's Association, met with then-Press Secretary Robert Gibbs to hash out complaints about limitations on the press, saying, "In my 10-plus years at the White House, rarely have I sensed such a level of anger ... over White House practices and attitudes toward the press."

Last month, a San Francisco Chronicle editor reported the White House threatened to bar Hearst reporters from pool duty after a Chronicle reporter shot video of protestors mocking Obama at a fund-raiser.

And, on Thursday, Mitt Romney blasted the President for denying the newspaper access to the fundraiser, the Boston Herald reported:

“The media has a responsibility to be truthful and to be interesting, and the Herald is both of those things,” Romney said last night. “The president barring the Herald from attending a presidential event flies in the face of the spirit of the First Amendment.”

“I know the president and the White House are very sensitive about anyone who talks about the failures in the economy,” Romney said. “They’re in denial about putting people out of work and the under-employed. When the Herald speaks the truth, they lash out.”

Romney, who is the current GOP front-runner to take on Obama in 2012, also blasted the president for going back on pledges he made during his historic 2008 run.

“I think the president’s campaign promises in too many cases have gone by the boards. The transparency pledge was the first to go,” Romney said. “The inclination toward retribution and lashing out toward people who disagree with his economic posture is only the latest chapter.”

Others have noted that the Boston Herald has, in the past published front page articles that were highly critical of Mr. Romney, including one piece that criticized the 2012 Presidential hopeful for saying he would repeal Obamacare.

But apparently, anything less than 100% percent favorable coverage for himself and 100% negative coverage for his opponents, is simply insufficient for Obama...