The Drudge Report posted a story on an incident at a fund raiser for Vice-President Biden held Wednesday in Florida.  It was a $500-a-person gathering in Winter Park, Florida, and Scott Powers of the Orlanda Sentinel was the ‘pool reporter’ covering the event. 

The reporter was put in a storage closet during the event.  He was allowed out of the closet to hear 35 minutes of remarks by Vice-President Biden and then returned to the closet for the remainder of the event. 

The article reports:

“Powers didn’t mention his confinement in either of his pool reports that day, saying only that “press coverage was limited to a single pool reporter, filing on behalf of all local media, who was allowed to listen to the remarks but not given an opportunity to talk with anyone at the event.””

Freedom of the press is one of the cornerstones of a democracy.  This is not freedom of the press.  Mr. Powers was a pool reporter assigned to cover the event for the press.  The fact that he was not given access to the guests at the fundraiser raises questions as to exactly who was there and what were the subjects of discussion.  It seems to me that placing someone in a closet and keeping guard at the door is not normal political activity and should be looked into.  I suspect Mr. Powers will not file a complaint because filing a complaint would severely limit his access to the President and Vice-President in the future; however, reporting from the closet doesn’t seem to be great access to begin with.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:  This story is now posted online at the UK Daily Mail and the Daily Caller.