Debates: Some Journos Say Facilities Lacking

> Update: 9:16pm: One on-site news insider says the South Carolina GOP was overwhelmed by the 360 credentialed journalists, “but the media tent is air conditioned and there’s a spread of food ranging from roast chicken to honey baked ham and steamed green beans. The sandwiches are an alternative so clearly this reporter didn’t bother to walk the length of the media tent. Not to mention, there are four large flat screen TV’s in central positions throughout the tent. And Fox stepped in and rectified these situations caused by the South Carolina GOP, who arranged the setup of the facilities, as soon as they were made aware of the situation.”

Some non-Fox journos in South Carolina are grumbling about their treatment at the debate site.

“For starters, the media filing center didn’t even have outlet cords for our laptops when we first got here (although that seems being taken care of as we speak),” NBC’s Mark Murray blogged. “But the more surprising treatment occurred when we tried walking into the large, air-conditioned Koger Center to use one of the bathrooms. We were told that only FOX employees were allowed into the building, and that we’d have to use one of the port-a-potties outside. Nice.”

Another journo in Columbia says he found just “one restroom with one toilet (no urinals) about 100 yards away (too long of a walk for reporters on deadline).” The rules apparently changed this afternoon, as a Fox person told Murray that “we will be allowed to use the restrooms in the Koger Center.”

That’s not the only complaint though. “Unlike the Democratic event in Orangeburg, there is meager food offered, mostly sodas and subs,” the journo writes. And: “there are few if any TVs” and there’s a “lack of trash cans.”

One upside: the parking is better…