Romney Camp Tries to Limit Reporters’ Access, and Rope Line Ruckus Erupts

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Romney campaign is known for its hyper-disciplined approach to the news media. Question-and-answer sessions with reporters are rare. Aides avoid on-the-record briefings. And the candidate’s latest outreach to voters, a series of casual meetings with middle-class Americans, is shielded from public view.

But on Wednesday, the campaign took that curtain-drawing restrictiveness to a new level, leading to a brief kerfuffle with reporters and later, an apologetic clarification.