WASHINGTON — The Associated Press decided not to cover a Republican presidential debate to protest limits placed on media coverage by its organizers.
Fox News Channel and the South Carolina Republican Party co-sponsored the first GOP debate of the 2012 presidential race Thursday. But the sponsors barred still photographers from entering the hall in Greenville, S.C., during the debate.
Fox informed AP and Reuters that it would allow only one still photographer into the debate at the start, when candidates shake hands, and that the photographer would have to leave when the debate began.
Reuters told Fox and the South Carolina Republican Party that it would not accept such coverage restrictions.
The McClatchy Co., which owns five daily newspapers in South Carolina, also objected to the restrictions but still covered the debate.
