Gov.’s Event Draws AP Protest
The Associated Press said it is protesting Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s handling of his public appearance in Monrovia on Wednesday, an event the governor’s aides omitted from his public schedule.
About 8 a.m. Wednesday, Schwarzenegger’s press office notified AP’s Los Angeles bureau that the governor would stop at Jake’s Roadhouse in the San Gabriel Valley community, and asked AP to handle pool coverage for other media outlets, AP editors said.
But the governor’s office did not notify other news organizations or update its schedule until after the appearance had concluded.
Media aides to the governor misled reporters throughout the morning; a Schwarzenegger spokesman told a Times reporter at 9:30 a.m. -- more than an hour after AP was notified -- that the governor would have no daily event.
“Clearly, we object to the manner in which the governor’s office handled this news event. This was not a traditional pool situation, and we would never participate in something that limited the media,” said Anthony Marquez, Los Angeles bureau chief for AP.
He added that AP is writing a letter to the governor’s office “protesting this and a couple of other instances where we’ve had issues with them.”
Get the L.A. Times Politics newsletter
Deeply reported insights into legislation, politics and policy from Sacramento, Washington and beyond. In your inbox three times per week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
