Reporters float Cuomo boycott in response to anti-media "mind games"

Cuomo fulfilled his promise, holding a press availability in Syracuse on Monday. But there was a catch: the event was officially announced less than two hours before he was scheduled to appear, making it difficult for many journalists assigned to Cuomo and based nearly two hours away in capital city Albany to arrive in time (some journalists, luckily, had caught wind of the event in advance and appeared in time). The move was just the latest in an ongoing back-and-forth between the reporters covering the governor’s mounting scandals and an embattled executive who has done little to hide his irritation and frustration with the reporters assigned to cover his powerful office. According to multiple people familiar with the discussions, in recent days several members of the Legislative Correspondents Association—an organization somewhat similar to the White House Correspondents Association but encompassing state reporters who cover the governor—have proposed a boycott of covering Cuomo’s events until he agrees to hold regular availabilities and take questions from the Albany press corps. While the boycott has been suggested and discussed by members, it still seems somewhat unlikely that it will materialize.