Presidential campaigns
The presidential primaries saw an unusual number of incidents involving candidates and the news media, whether direct confrontations by candidates and campaign officials or incidents involving police and Secret Service agents.
For the rest of the campaign, the Reporters Committee will be monitoring incidents of interference with the news media by candidates and their organizations. We intend to attempt to intervene with candidates, parties, national and local officials and officers whenever possible to stop these practices.
Incidents and events
- June 15, 2015: Clinton campaign staff deny access to print pool reporter David Martosko of The Daily Mail because he was not "on the list"of approved pool members. "Clinton campaign denies access to pool reporter," by Dylan Byers, Politico
- July 4, 2015: Clinton campaign staff cordones off journalists at parade, restricting coverage of Hillary Clinton and limiting interaction with the public. "Clinton campaign frustrates journalists yet again by roping off media at parade," Michael Calderone, Huffington Post
- Jan. 15, 2016: Reporter Trip Gabriel is ejected from a Trump event. "How I got ejected from a Donald Trump event," by Trip Gabriel, The New York Times
- Jan. 15, 2016: Reporters say they are restricted to press pens during Trump campaign events. "Donald Trump may love good press, but his campaign is most hostile to reporters," by Michael Calderone, The Huffington Post
- Feb. 29, 2016: Police and Secret Service officers eject photojournalist Chris Morris from a Trump rally after he tried to leave the designated press area to cover Black Lives Matter protesters. "Unrest at Trump rallies," CBS News
- June 3, 2016: Trump campaign staff and private security eject a Politico correspondent from an event for reporting without permission. The staffer had been refused credentials for other campaign events and, in fact, received an email later that day revoking his credentials to an upcoming campaign event. "Trump security removes Politico reporter from rally," by Ben Schreckinger, Politico
- June 13, 2016: Upset by the newspaper's coverage of his campaign, Trump revokes credentials for Washington Post reporters. "Trump revokes Post press credentials, calling paper 'dishonest' and 'phony'," by Paul Farhi, The Washington Post
- June 14, 2016: Clinton, Trump behavior toward the news media does not bode well for future access. "Does it matter that Donald Trump has banned us? Not in the way you'd think," by Margaret Sullivan, The Washington Post
- July 28, 2016: A reporter for The Washington Post was denied general admittance and patted down by security at an event for Republican vice presidential candidate Mike Pence in Wisconsin. "Post reporter barred, patted down by police, at rally for Trump running mate," by Paul Farhi, The Washington Post
- Aug. 2, 2016: Trump says he is considering revoking credentials for New York Times reporters over "unfair" reporting about his campaign. "Donald Trump: New York Times reporters 'don't write good,' " by Charlotte Klein, The Huffington Post.
- Sept. 7, 2016: Trump reportedly ends blacklisting of reporters from Washington Post, Buzzfeed, Politico: "Donald Trump ending press 'blacklist'"
Candidates' policies
- Donald Trump has refused to release his tax returns, something done by every major party candidate since 1976, when Gerald Ford released summaries of his returns.
- The Trump campaign has barred reporters from The Washington Post, Buzzfeed and other publications from attending rallies. Because these are technically private events (although they include significant public costs in terms of security), the campaigns are not violating any laws.
- Aug. 5: Hillary Clinton "sort of, kind of," almost broke her streak and held a press conference on Friday, USA Today reported, noting that she has not held a traditional press conference for seven months.