LYING THUGS: White House Bullies SF Reporter, Then Denies It. Transparency or Thuggery? THE SF CHRONICLE: 'White House Lying'

Last week’s dust-up between the press and the White House following the coverage of a fundraising event in San Francisco may be a turning point in the media’s relationship with the Obama White House.

The chronology of events is as follows:

The President attends a Democratic Party fundraising event in San Francisco.

Print Pool reporters (a small, pre-approved group of newspaper journalists that simultaneously feed their coverage to all outlets) are in attendance.

A protest erupts and one of the pool reporters catches it on video. (Citizens in attendance recorded this as well)

The reporter posts the video online.

The White House bans the reporter from future pool coverage, threatens to ban affiliated reporters if the ban is exposed

The ban is exposed.

The White House denies banning reporter, denies threatening other reporters, and apparently reinstates the reporter.

The video that triggered this kerfuffle can be seen above: READ MORE...

SF CHRONICLE: WHITE HOUSE LYING- Update: Chronicle responds after Obama Administration punishes reporter for using multimedia, then claims they didn't