Breitbart report Bob McCarty received the following e-mail from Brett Funk, Long's spokesman. "Apologies Bob, we are initially focusing on our district press for media requests. Please keep us in mind in the future.”
So here we are less than a week after McCarty receives the e-mail from Long's office. Long returns to Southwest Missouri, his Missouri 7 district, to meet with the district seniors with an invitation open to members of the community and the press. Long has scheduled a press conference after he speaks to the seniors. Jim Lee shows his Missouri Press Association credentials to get into the press conference and is denied entry by Congressman Long's gatekeepers.
Lee says, "this morning, after his event at Experience Works--which was free and open to the public, Long held a press briefs in an adjoining room."
Lee says he showed his credentials and was told by Long's people he wasn't allowed in there, despite being a member of the Missouri Press Association and having a following as political commentator in Southwest Missouri. Lee leans to the left on issues and has been critical of Congressman Long on the issues.
Lee recorded Congressman Long's staffers telling him he wasn't allowed in.
Community free press is media
That didn't stop Lee from trying. When Congressman Long approached, Lee asked if he could join the press conference. Congressman Long told him no once again showing that Congressman Long picks and chooses the media presence in his controlled and safe environments by who writes positive stories about the Congressman and who doesn't. Various members of the local media have expressed to me Long won't talk to them after they wrote a story critical of or exposing the ethical dilemmas Long has found himself in during the brief time he has been in Congress. The following is the exchange between Lee and Long.
Billy Long says NO
What strikes me as ironic is last fall during a public appearance, Lee and Long shared a good laugh with each other while Long acknowledged that he wouldn't agree with Lee and expected him to offer criticism of Long.
Long didn't have a problem answering Lee's questions then, so why is Lee now being kept from having access to Long? Could it be Lee asks tough questions that Long would rather not answer and only allows media he knows will not challenge Congressman Long knowing they will be cast out of the next press conference if they do?
