Golden moments

Suzanne Goldenberg, who covers US affairs for The Guardian, is a very determined journalist, and her coverage of the primaries is worth reading.

In this video clip (posted today), we see some (unintentionally) hilarious attempts by some people working on the Obama campaign to stop her wandering around and asking questions. (It’s clear elsewhere, incidentally, that the rally is in a public place (at least in US terms), and for fairness I should add that Goldenberg explains at the end that similar things happened in the past with her coverage of the Clinton campaign).

Here’s my own transcription of a particularly fun exchange:

The scene – what looks like a basketball arena / school gym / something, where an Obama rally is happening soon. Goldenberg is interviewing an attendee, and a campaign staffer approaches them.

Staffer: Um, I’m really sorry, but they just told us, we have to keep all the press back from this area, you can interview people over at the railings if you like?

Goldenberg: Can you check, because I’ve never been to a political rally where they do that, and you’d actually be infringing on my constitutional rights…

S: um, I …

G: And so if Barack Obama as a policy wants to infringe on my constitutional rights of fair speech, that’s fine, but I just want someone to tell me that that’s campaign policy

S: I’m not the one that decided..that’s what we were told..

G: I’ve never been…

S: If you wouldn’t mind waiting here..

G: I’m going to go around and do my job, I don’t think you can stop me from talking to people before the rally starts.

G walks off with notebook.

You can’t keep a good reporter down…