November 3, 2018
When an American President schedules a public event within driving distance it’s hard to resist going. So when President Trump announced a rally in Macon, Georgia The Gazette wasted no time opening a Google map and confirming that, yup, it was doable.
The prospect of standing there, on the media riser, anticipating the inevitable call and response routine about the Lying Press/Enemy of The People was thrilling, like anxiously awaiting Free Bird at a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert.
Imagine the letdown when The Gazette‘s credential request was turned down. Not regrettably declined but flat out, ice cold, denied. What was going on here? Was the press platform already so crowded with the President’s favorite punching bags from Fake CNN, The Amazon Washington Post, Money Losing Politico, and The Failing New York Times that there was no room left to squeeze in The Gazette? Did they dispatch our request to the trash folder after figuring out that our readership rounds to zero? Or was it something else altogether?
Laying all the clues out on the table to solve this mystery one thing jumped out. Nowhere in the press application had it specifically asked for the name of the media organization. It’s in The Gazette‘s email addy of course, but still, that seemed odd. With just a journalist’s name to go on how could they even make a determination? Maybe it came down to a random intern saying, “Whooo??? Never heard of him!” and marking the request DENIED.
So tomorrow afternoon, when the President prompts the rally crowd to turn and boo the media covering the event, The Gazette won’t be there… and that’s not fake news. It’s a fact.