Peter Schorsch
Often regarded as one of Adams Street’s favorite members of the Capitol Press Corps, the News Service of Florida’s Dara Kam pretty much pissed off half of establishment Tallahassee this week by tweeting out a picture of patrons of the members-only Governors Club enjoying a round of cocktails and camaraderie.
“Shhh. Don’t tell @FLGovScott,” Kam tweeted. “Hospital lobbyists swilling champagne at members-only Gov Club lounge yesterday.” One of the Governors Club members easily recognizable in the picture is a lobbyist for the Florida Hospital Association.
Kam really isn’t to blame for broadcasting the photo. It was likely sent to her from a member of the club and she is certainly not bound by the rules of the GC, which prohibit such violations of members’ privacy.
That said, Kam’s demagoguery is unnecessary. Sure, it makes for interesting fodder to write about people “swilling champagne,” as if Stickle and Co. had just arrived in town from Versailles, but Kam’s caption is exactly why reporters are not allowed in the lounge in the first place.
(Some have asked how it is that I am a member, even though I have a foot in the Fourth Estate. And the answer to this is I became a member before I was a publisher and I have not and would never violate club rules. As I joked yesterday on Twitter, Bill Pfeiffer could shoot Pat Roberts in the lounge with Richard Coates‘ gun and I would not report it.)
Kam’s tweet drew a rebuke Wednesday from club president Gus Corbella, who says that whoever the member is who sent the picture to Kam breached house rules and went against “the grain of the spirit” of the Governors Club.
The bottom line here is: This is why we can’t have nice things. Because of needle-dicks who send photos from inside a private club to reporters and reporters too eager to navel gaze. In a town as small as Tallahassee, there has to be some sanctuary from prying eyes. There has to be at least one place where a girl can let her hair down and enjoy some bubbly.
