A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS
by Amy Weiss

A reporter for the Tallahassee Democrat suspects he was removed from a John McCain event last week in Panama City, Florida because he is black. A statement from a McCain campaign "advance man" claimed that race was not involved.

The reporter, Stephen Price, was approached [1] by a member of McCain's security detail and asked for his press credentials. Price presented them and was asked if he was a national reporter. He told the man he was a state reporter and then was approached by a police officer with his hand on his holster and told to leave the area. No one else was asked to leave until another reporter asked why Price had been removed, then she, too, was asked to leave.

Advance man Jonathan Block, who was not present when Price was removed, told the editor of the Tallahassee Democrat:

Access to the senator is tightly controlled ... I would first express regret that your reporter was moved, and I can tell you beyond a shadow of a doubt that race had nothing to do with it...

At the end of the day, your reporter was in the wrong place. I do not know why the other reporters were not moved. The rest of the local press should have been moved as well.

Block said any number of things could have contributed to Price's removal but could not explain why other local/state reporters were permitted to stay.

On MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann, Price told Olbermann [2] he was the only black reporter and the only one asked to move. He also said it was clear he was not a national reporter because the national reporters have their own bus and he did not know of any national reporters in the area, only local/state reporters.

"The fact that I'm black was the only obvious reason," Price said of his dismissal.

Other than Block's words to the editor, the McCain campaign has not commented or responded in any way to the story.

Questionable racial or gender-based comments and actions have occurred on both sides of the aisle in this campaign. The difference is how the candidates deal with them.

Obama caught flak in May [3] for calling a female reporter, "sweetie" and not answering her question. He subsequently called her that day and left a voicemail apologizing both for not answering the question and for using a term some found demeaning and offensive.

The voicemail he left her, published by her station, said:

Hi Peggy. This is Barack Obama. I'm calling to apologize on two fronts. One was you didn't get your question answered and I apologize. I thought that we had set up interviews with all the local stations. I guess we got it with your station but you weren't the reporter that got the interview. And so, I broke my word. I apologize for that and I will make up for it. Second apology is for using the word 'sweetie.' That's a bad habit of mine. I do it sometimes with all kinds of people. I mean no disrespect and I am duly chastened on that front. Feel free to call me back. I expect that my press team will be happy to try to make it up to you whenever we are in Detroit next.

The other Obama campaign incident was when campaign volunteers told two Muslim women [4] they could not be seated where they would be seen in the same shot as the candidate wearing their headscarves. These were not actions of someone on paid campaign staff, but Obama still took responsibility. He called the two women, apologized, and condemned the action of the volunteers while confirming his committment to fight discrimination.

The two women then issued a statement accepting his apology and expressing their willingness to move on:

At the rally for Senator Obama in Detroit on Monday, June 16, two volunteers denied us seating behind the stage the Senator would soon take. The volunteers informed us that we were not allowed to sit in that area due to the hijab, the headscarf that each of us was wearing.

This incident was unfortunate and extremely disappointing. Senator Obama has called us each to personally convey his deepest apologies and acknowledge that this was inexcusable. We both immensely appreciate the Senator's phone call and his commitment to remedy this issue. We commend him for displaying qualities befitting an effective President. We acknowledge that this injustice has been taken seriously and that Senator Obama does not tolerate discrimination against Arabs, Muslims or any community. We are assured that he and his staff are committed to upholding the principles of justice for all peoples and bringing about change we can believe in. The infringement on our rights occurred and has been addressed; now we are ready to move forward. We will continue to support Senator Obama in his campaign and wish him the best as the race continues.

Price's removal (or the failure to remove others) may have been an inadvertently offensive mistake like Obama's "sweetie" comment, or an uglier, more deliberate action. Either way, Price deserves something more than a barely explanative, defensive non-apology from an advance man. If race really had "nothing to do with it," the McCain campaign, perhaps someone who was involved with the decision, should explain the action. If racism did play a role, John McCain himself owes Price an apology.

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS

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