Reporter barred from campaign rally blogs about it

When reporter Geoff Dembicki from the B.C.online magazine The Tyee was denied entry to a Stephen Harper campaign event on October 8, rather than simply lament the situation, he blogged about it. Dembicki wrote about the story behind his lack of a story in his post “Tyee reporter barred from Harper rally”.

He gave readers a play-by-play of his attempts to gain entrance into the event including an explanation of his earlier preparation for covering it.

He wrote:

“…I arrived at the ballroom before 7:00 p.m., the official start time of the rally, according to a Conservative press release.Harper staffers were adamant that media were too late for the rally.
After a few minutes, however, reporters from World Journal and Channel
M were admitted to the ballroom. I’d called the Conservative press office earlier in the day, and was
told to bring a letter from The Tyee and a drivers license to gain
admission. But when I presented these to an Ottawa-based Harper staffer
who identified herself as Christine Csversk, she questioned my
legitimacy.

“The Tyee?,” she asked. “Is that a website?”

Csverisk phoned The Hook‘s editor, Monte Paulsen, to confirm my credentials. He was politely adamant that I be admitted.”