WASHINGTON (AP) – Representatives for news organizations who plan to cover next summer’s convention are protesting a move by the Republican National Committee to charge news media organizations a $150 access fee for seats on the press stand.
Seats on press risers constructed for newspapers, magazines, wire services and online print publications have been awarded without charge in the past. Representatives for daily and periodical press galleries in the Capitol protested that the media “should not be charged to cover elected officials at an event of enormous interest to the public.”
The four-day event will be held in Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena.
The national committee says the $150 charge covers but a fraction of the $750-per-seat cost of constructing press seats. Television networks generally cover the cost of constructing their skyboxes.