Reading some of the gripes CBS News’s Dean Reynolds writes up in his online Reporter’s Notebook this week reminds me of that reporter who complained about how hard it was to chase the elusive Clinton bus down the streets of Manchester, New Hampshire in her high-heeled boots. For example:
Baggage calls are preposterously early with the explanation that it’s all for security reasons.
If so, I would love to have someone from Obama’s campaign explain why the entire press corps, the Secret Service, and the local police idled for two hours in a Miami hotel parking lot recently because there was nothing to do and nowhere to go. It was not an isolated case.
Such exasperation! For an incident that doesn’t sound so unusual for campaign trail livin’ (then again, I’ve only been on the trail for a couple of days myself — and four years ago– so what do I know?)
And:
The McCain campaign plane is better than Obama’s, which is cramped, uncomfortable and smells terrible most of the time. Somehow the McCain folks manage to keep their charter clean, even where the press is seated.
Such filth! Hey, Obama’s plane: you smell! (How can you Blackberry your editor with one hand pinching your nose?)
Sometimes, what happens in reporter’s notebook should stay in reporter’s notebook.
Liz Cox Barrett is a writer at CJR.