CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — ABC-affiliated Iowa news station KCRG was reportedly blacklisted from the Iowa GOP's election results party, according to a report written by station staff.
According to KCRG, it was denied media credentials for the Iowa Republicans' GOP Victory Party at a downtown Des Moines Hilton hotel on election night, where Gov. Reynolds, Sen. Grassley and other top candidates and leaders are scheduled to watch election results live and speak to supporters and the media.
The station claims it was told that access was denied due to full capacity at the event, with Iowa GOP spokesperson Kollin Crompton allegedly saying that "priority was given to Des Moines media."
However, KCRG reports that local media outlets from outside the Des Moines area did receive credentials for the event, concluding that capacity and Des Moines prioritization did not fully explain why the station was selectively blocked.
“This is an unprecedented action in my 20+ years in TV news, 17 of it in Iowa,” KCRG-TV9 News Director Adam Carros said. “I cannot recall a single instance a political party has blocked a local TV or newspaper outlet from its election night event in Iowa.”
KCRG's reporters are unable to access the event, preventing them from asking state Republicans questions or observing the happenings inside the event's confines.
Furthermore, the station is reportedly blocked from sharing coverage with sister stations in 6 other Iowa TV markets, disrupting its newsroom plan and effectively shutting down coverage for many TV audiences across the state.
KCRG notes that the move comes after the party's alleged previous moves to criticize, question or block coverage from the station, particularly that of political ad fact-checks.
These incidents include the station rating two Republican campaign ads as an "F" — one on an ad where Republican Brenna Bird claimed Attorney General Tom Miller let a convicted sex offender out of prison due to a sex change and one on an ad where Republican Bobby Kaufmann accused former Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek of allowing Black Lives Matter rioters to deface Kinnick Stadium. Kaufmann is the son of the Chair of the Iowa GOP, Jeff Kaufmann.
The station also alleges that the party repeatedly ignored requests to take part in its election preview coverage. Specifically, KCRG published a story about two Republicans taking advantage of a loophole in Iowa's residency requirements for legislative districts and was met with a disparaging response from spokesperson Kollin Crompton that read, "KCRG has turned into a press shop for Democrats."
“Quite simply, there is no reason to believe this decision was based on capacity,” Carros said. “Based on previous years of covering these events, including in the same venue, capacity has never been an issue for local TV or print media, as evidenced by other outlets getting access to this year’s GOP event. I have every reason to believe this is political retribution for our fact checks and other reporting the party deemed unfavorable. No one at the central party has reached out to me to discuss their frustrations before taking this step and they have not responded to my earlier offers to discuss their frustration over a particular story or our news coverage in general. I’ve been able to have those discussions frequently over the years with campaigns and candidates from both parties to both build those relationships and improve our coverage.”
The Iowa GOP has yet to publish a response to the allegations.
Watch more election night coverage on News 8's YouTube channel
