‘Not the Forum I Anticipated’ : Donna Rice Walks Out on Press Panel

CINCINNATI —  Donna Rice, whose relationship with Gary Hart dashed his presidential aspirations, walked out of a “Privacy and the Press” panel discussion today because reporters wanted to cover her appearance.

Rice issued a statement saying she had been told that her appearance on the Society of Professional Journalists panel would be off the record, but officials of the organization said there had been no such assurances.

“I felt that today would be an opportunity to quietly and candidly share with you some of my experiences and observations,” Rice wrote in the statement. “However, it was my original understanding that this panel discussion was private and essentially off the record.

“But when I arrived a few minutes ago and I saw the cameras, lights and tape recorders, I realized this wasn’t the forum I anticipated.”

Rice had walked briskly out of the Cincinnati Convention Center while the Society of Professional Journalists panel discussion was going on in front of 500 non-working journalists.

In a graphic illustration of what the panel discussion was all about, a dozen working journalists paraded behind her from the convention center to a nearby hotel and asked her repeatedly why she refused to appear on the panel. Rice declined comment but handed a society official her statement for panel moderator Bruce Sanford to read to the audience.

Vivian Vahlberg, the society’s executive director, said Rice should have expected cameras and reporters to be covering the panel discussion.