Fong will be making himself available to members of the press prior to each event, but will not be allowing press to attend the actual events.
Todd Dorman, columnist for The Gazette, asked Fong about the decision.
Fong says it's not for his protection, but for his audience.
"If people in the room know that press is sitting there, does it inhibit them from sharing freely with me because they're afraid they're going to get quoted in their local paper?" Fong said.
As Dorman notes, and I feel compelled to reiterate, "Uhmmm... This is Iowa, the first-in-the-nation caucus state."
If there is one thing residents of Iowa (and New Hampshire) are well versed in doing it is attending campaign events, cutting through the noise and developing an opinion based on the policy expressed. For the record, we are also not so dense as to believe that with cameras and tape recorders whirling in the background that what we say is private. Further, if we are compelled to ask a private question of a candidate, we know how to do that as well.
When I first read the sentence, I thought it might be a publicity stunt of sorts. You know, an effort to build a momentum around the tour by painting it with a shroud of mystery. But in this day and age of "citizen journalists," building publicity by way of a traditional press ban has inherent risks. Journalists with ethics, having been informed that they are not welcome, will not attend. They will find other, more productive ways to spend their time -- probably with another statewide candidate that feels he/she can benefit from the message distribution services the press provides.
Those who do attend Fong's closed door events will be the types of reporters who never intended to file a balanced report. Video they shoot or recordings they make will be spliced, information removed from context, and their "reporting" will be the resulting press coverage from the event(s). And, without other, more balanced news reports available, the pieces distributed by the unethical will be afforded more value than their actual worth.
So, upon a second look, I really have no idea why the Fong campaign has chosen this route. It places a wedge between a little-known candidate for statewide office and the members of the press most likely to provide him a fair public viewing. It alerts residents that the campaign, and possibly the Governor's Office (if he should win it), has already settled on a less-than-transparent mode of operation.
