Several Alaska bloggers banned from Palin’s Wasilla book-signing. from Think Progress

 by Amanda Terkel http://thinkprogress.org/2009/12/23/bloggers-banned-palin/

Approximately 1,000 people attended former Alaska governor Sarah Palin's book-signing event in her hometown of Wasilla, AK. Despite the enthusiasm, book sales weren't as high as anticipated. Local bookseller Shannon Cullip set up a table to sell copies of Palin's book "Going Rogue," but by noon, she had sold just 30 books. The Anchorage Daily News also reports that several members of the media — including some local progressive bloggers — were put on a black list and banned from the event:

Not every attendee was welcome. Dennis Zaki, an Anchorage photographer and videographer who until recently ran the Web site Alaska Report, checked in at the media table and was told by Wasilla Recreation and Cultural Services Manager James Hastings that he wasn't welcome.

"He said because this is a paid event, they can ban anybody they want," Zaki said. He didn't fight it, he said.

Zaki said he was told that he and a couple of Alaska bloggers were on the list, with photos to identify them.

Hastings justified the black list by saying, "If I take three minutes on Google I can see that, given the nature of the people who were here, it wasn't in his (Zaki's) best interest to be here. He and others could have found themselves in a negative situation." At a Palin book-signing at the Mall of America earlier this month, officials initially said that "only English speaking press" would be let in.