Romney Campaign Gouged the Press for Massage Party

Lindsay Beyerstein December 18, 2012

I’m not sure what’s funnier, that the Romney campaign had a massage tables for the press, or that they charged $745 dollars a head to attend the event:

As BuzzFeed reported last week, each reporter was charged $812 on October 11 for a single meal and a spot in a rented “holding place,” a spot for the press to wait before the next event. The letter cites similar charges of “$461 for a meal and hold the next day; $345 for food and hold Oct. 30.” The Romney campaign also billed news outlets $745 per reporter for a “viewing party,” which included massage tables and fresh cut flowers, during the first vice-presidential debate.

What kind of massage do you get for $745?

Thankfully, there was no happy ending for the Romney campaign.

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Lindsay Beyerstein is an award-winning investigative journalist and In These Times staff writer who writes the blog Duly Noted. Her stories have appeared in Newsweek, Salon, Slate, The Nation, Ms. Magazine, and other publications. Her photographs have been published in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times’ City Room. She also blogs at The Hillman Blog (http://www.hillmanfoundation.org/hillmanblog), a publication of the Sidney Hillman Foundation, a non-profit that honors journalism in the public interest.