Hashtag Progressive

Or, when transparency is a filter on Instagram:

In nearly five months in office, de Blasio barred the media from 53 events and limited access to 30 more, an Associated Press analysis of de Blasio’s schedule shows. On a handful of days, his entire schedule was off limits. All told, more than 20 percent of his listed events were closed to the media.

Events in which reporters were notified of their existence but prevented from attending ranged from meetings with government figures such as the mayor of Seattle and Israel’s minister of foreign affairs to sit-downs with the NBA commissioner, the Rev. Al Sharpton and the Russian band Pussy Riot.

[. . .]

De Blasio’s spokesman Phil Walzak noted that any limits imposed on reporters are largely due to logistics, not secrecy.

But some media watchdogs worry that the restrictions in New York reflect a larger trend of government officials limiting access to the media while getting their message out to constituents directly via Twitter, Facebook and their own websites.

“It’s easier to manage the message if you leave the media out of it,” said Hunter College professor Jamie Chandler.