Establishment media outlets are signaling that Democrat presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris’s honeymoon phase is over after the first day of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) saw major issues with logistics and operations.
Several media figures from across the spectrum began publicly criticizing and even openly mocking Democrats for their mistakes at the DNC, particularly with regard to press operations and workspace but also with regard to the flow of convention programming that went far too long on Monday evening. The derailed convention programming, which was far behind schedule, led to President Joe Biden–the sitting president of the United States–being pushed until nearly 11:30 p.m. eastern time before he finally took the stage late Monday evening. Democrats even canceled planned speeches from Reps. Grace Meng (D-NY) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) and a planned performance from award-winning musician James Taylor.
DNC officials tried to spin the scheduling mistakes as a result of too much “applause” from convention-goers, something establishment media figures were simply just not buying:
Some in media even mocked Democrats for giving New York Gov. Kathy Hochul so much time for a pretty widely panned speech:
What’s more, the logistical failures of Democrats as compared with the much-more-smoothly-run Republican National Convention (RNC) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, last month were apparent:
The Semafor story in question here, from media reporter Maxwell Tani, is headlined: “A friendly media grows grumbly in Chicago”.
In it, Tani quoted the Standing Committee of Correspondents which went on record on behalf of essentially the entire media to express concerns with DNC logistical failures.
“We are concerned that the decision to reduce dedicated and accessible workspace by hundreds compared to prior conventions will hinder journalists’ ability to cover the historic nature of this convention,” the Standing Committee of Correspondents said in the statement.
Tani’s piece noted that while Democrat Party activists are by “outward metrics” unified at their convention, these simmering issues are a major potential problem for the party.
“The Democratic National Convention — off to a smooth start by all outward metrics — has also featured logistical headaches, like long lines, bad internet connections, expensive price tags, and limited access to the floor, leaving many of the 15,000 credentialed media grumbling, and their representatives openly battling convention organizers,” Tani wrote.
Tani also revealed later in the piece that the DNC’s media coordinator told media officials there will be no changes made to accomodate them.
“In a tense call with DNC Director of Media Logistics Pete Velz, the members of the Standing Committee pleaded with the DNC to expand access,” Tani wrote. “Velz informed the committee that there would be no substantive changes.”
Meanwhile, since Tani’s story, others in media have begun openly criticizing Democrats for the logistics failures. One reporter from Mother Jones, an openly liberal magazine, says she could not find seats to eat her chicken tenders with a colleague:
Others are amplifying the concerns of the press:
Whether Democrats fix these issues — particularly with the primetime lineup and schedule — in the second, third, and fourth nights of the convention remains to be seen. But if they do not, as DNC officials seemed to telegraph to Tani and others in their statements, this could be headed in a terrible direction for Harris.
