Day Photo by Sarah Gordon
In recent years it has become more difficult for reporters, and particularly news photographers, to do their jobs. Often police and other government officials, use security concerns and lately pandemic concerns as cover to push the limits of coverage rule making to either deny access or simply make things difficult.
We don’t know if that’s what happened when the White House tried to deny access to a Day of New London photographer for coverage of the Coast Guard Academy commencement, but we are glad that The Day stood up and fought back.
When government officials try to use their authority to interfere with news coverage you have to ask why. In the case of a presidential visit, is it about security or is it really about political image making?
Whether this was a simple misunderstanding or not, it is troubling that someone in the White House thought it was acceptable to use the heavy hand of that institution to control the coverage of a long established and respected local news organization. Who do they think they work for?
