Pelosi referees big media turf battle on Capitol Hill

The tug of war for prime office space is one of Washington’s oldest contact sports. So, with thousands of square feet of territory opening up in the Capitol Visitor Center (CVC), it’s no surprise that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) last year found herself refereeing a turf war.

What was unusual was that the combatants were the reporters who usually cover her.

{mosads}Print reporters were irritated by the vast new acreage in the CVC granted to the Radio and Television Gallery. The newspaperman who chairs the Daily Press Gallery went so far as to buttonhole Pelosi after a rally last fall to complain that the print media had been left behind in the land rush.

Even after the Speaker negotiated a truce by ceding some of her own real estate to create 37 more spaces for all reporters, mistrust and suspicion lingers among the four “galleries” of reporters, jokingly referred to as “the four families” by one House aide.

“It’s a sensitive matter, and as the opening gets closer, it’s taken on new urgency,” said Richard Cohen, a longtime reporter with The National Journal and chairman of the Periodical Gallery’s executive committee. “It’s clear that members of the Radio and TV Gallery did very well for themselves with the CVC. I don’t say that with pleasure.”

Broadcasters admit they seized a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to upgrade their cramped studio space, but bristle at the suggestion that they sought to exclude print reporters.

“I know there’s been a conversation about exclusion, that’s not how it developed,” said Tina Tate, who was involved with the issue when she was director of the House Radio and Television Gallery. “The plan was always for all credentialed media to be able to go to press conferences and use the filing room.”

The situation feeds into several longstanding media rivalries and suspicions among the tribes of Capitol Hill reporters.

Television always has bigger logistical hurdles than print, but rumpled newspapermen grumble that well-coiffed television reporters get favorable treatment. There is reluctance among many reporters to horse-trade with elected officials. But in this case, those elected officials are the ones who control the space that they need to work in on Capitol Hill.

The CVC  is penciled in to open this fall.

“Office space is power in Washington,” explained one scribe. Another observed: “Politics doesn’t end at the gallery doors.”

It’s a recipe for conflict. Politicians could play favorites with media outlets that give them favorable coverage. Reporters could be accused of writing negative stories in retribution for space decisions. But those involved say that never happened.

The turf war began in 2000, when Radio and TV Gallery officials asked then-Speaker Dennis Hastert’s (R-Ill.) staff for CVC space, not long after ground was broken on the CVC. When Congress went full-throttle on the project after the 2001 terrorist attacks, the broadcasters were well on their way toward getting a large chunk of space for new studios.

There is a “big studio” with 100 seats, a new backdrop and a stage that can hold the entirety of either party’s leadership, a mid-sized studio for competing press conferences, and a smaller room for one-on-one interviews. There is also a sizeable “locker room” for networks to store their heavy gear and cables. That storage space has been a big bone of contention.

Just how eagerly the print press sought space in the CVC is a matter of dispute. Ted Van Der Meid, Hastert’s counsel, said the Daily Press and Periodical Press Gallery officials did not seek space because they were fearful of losing their current quarters in the Capitol.

Daily press representatives say they sought space for years, however, and could never get answers from House officials.

“Despite two years of talks and tours, the previous House leadership hadn’t given us anything,” said Bill Walsh, the Washington correspondent for The Times-Picayune of New Orleans who buttonholed Pelosi last fall. Walsh’s term as chairman of the Standing Committee of Correspondents, which oversees the daily gallery, ended Friday.

By last fall, print reporters became alarmed that they would be shut out of the CVC. Despite assurances from the Radio and TV Gallery that there would be a filing area for all reporters, Walsh said it was not clear to him where print reporters would work.

That’s when Walsh stopped Pelosi on the steps and found out first-hand the value of face-to-face lobbying.

“By the time I got back to the office, my phone was ringing,” Walsh said. “Suddenly we had their attention.”

He also employed another tactic of the lobbyists he covers — coalition-building. The Standing Committee recruited the Newspaper Association of America, which represents large dailies, to write Pelosi last November, saying broadcasters had gotten “eight times more space than all other media combined” in the CVC, putting print at a “significant disadvantage.”

The letter acknowledged that a long, narrow 20-seat room near the studios had been set aside for reporters, but said that would not be enough space. The letter suggested carving more space out of the networks’ storage space or a conference room assigned to the speaker.

The broadcast press vigorously defended its storage space, noting that cameramen haul in loads of gear for events like the State of the Union, which can clog checkpoints. They also argued all reporters will benefit from the creation of more studio space, since they will no longer be shut out of press conferences in the small 30-seat studio at the Radio and TV Gallery’s third floor space. Broadcasters stressed that they have put in their own money, upwards of $600,000 worth of equipment, to make it work.

The looming battle led to the Nov. 29 meeting of the “four families” and Pelosi’s counsel, Bernie Raimo.

Pelosi decided to give up the press gallery space that had been set aside for her but was essentially undesignated. That added at least 17 more seats for all accredited journalists, including reporters, photographers, television producers and trade journal editors, bringing the total to 37.

“It wasn’t difficult — it was just a matter of getting everyone together and working on it,” said Pelosi spokesman Brendan Daly.

There was also a side fight that shuffled allegiances among the galleries. Daily Press Gallery officials helped The Associated Press and Reuters carve out offices, reducing the size of the general media area. That has drawn protests from their print brethren in the Periodical Gallery, along with the Radio and TV Gallery.

Associated Press and Reuters officials say it is only natural for newswires to have “assigned space” on the House side of the CVC, since they have long had offices on the House side of the Capitol. They get different status because they feed news to most of the country’s major print and broadcast outlets.

“The wires, whether you’re talking about AP, UPI or Reuters, have always had space,” said AP Congressional Editor Matt Yancey. “We’re the people who are always there. When the daily press goes home, we’re going to be the ones covering the Senate floor.”

The open workspace comes with limitations. The Radio and TV Gallery is scheduled for renovations in a few years, and when that happens, the assigned media offices upstairs in the Radio and TV Gallery will be temporarily relocated there.

While the truce is holding, however, there is still grumbling about the arrangements.

The Radio and Television Gallery wants the reporters’ area to be a filing room for reporters to park themselves briefly after press conferences. But the Daily Press Gallery is pushing for shelves and coat racks, stirring fears that reporters would instead use it as home base for a day of reporting in the Capitol, as unassigned gallery space is often used now.

“Nothing’s certain until the place is open,” said Cohen.