Obama staff ban interviews outside rally

By DYLAN BYERS
8/10/12 6:29 PM EDT

Politico - Dave Davies, senior reporter for Philadelphia's WHYY radio station and an NPR contributor, reports that Obama campaign staffers prevented him from interviewing voters outside a recent campaign rally featuring Michelle Obama.

"Obama campaign operatives barred me from talking to voters outside the event, to the point of interfering with my interviews and grabbing my microphone," he reports. Multiple campaign staffers interfered with Davies; none would explain why he was not allowed to conduct interviews. (You can listen to Davies' audio report, which includes his exchanges with the staffers, on the WHYY website).

The Obama campaign says that despite Davies' experience, reporters are allowed to conduct interviews.

"This isn’t our policy – reporters can interview whoever they would like at our events," campaign press secretary Ben LaBolt told POLITICO. "Our staff has been reminded of that."

Jennifer Austin, the Pennsylvania press secretary for the Obama campaign, told Davies that the campaign "encourage[s] reporters to talk to our supporters at events," though she would not agree to his request for an interview.