Here's a story that's been around the world and back again in just a couple of days.
Over the weekend, Dallas Morning News reporter Tom Benning tried to follow Governor Rick Perry's personal twitter account (his name is also used on a campaign account and an official "office of the Governor" account). Benning received a message from Twitter, saying he was being blocked from following the Governor. So he blogged about it...and found out that there were a couple other journalists also blocked.
The Statesman's Omar Gallaga reported last year that Perry has blocked some liberal bloggers from his personal account. As of now - nobody that we know from KUT has been blocked.
It's turning into an interesting discussion on just what new media access to the Governor means. It's one thing to be turned down for interviews. And you could argue that being left off of the Governor's press e-mail list isn't very helpful. But what about his personal Twitter account? Is that denying access? Is it his account to use as he wishes?
The official response sent back to Mr. Benning from Perry spokeswoman Katherine Cesinger said it's the governor's personal account and, "...so he manages it as he likes. He uses non-state resources."
I would guess the governor ends up with more followers after all the publicity.
