As we reported earlier this morning, today marked Day One in Fishbowl D.C.'s quest to cover a White House morning "gaggle." The short version? The day passes aren't exactly easy to get. We were smoothly and professionally rejected access by the White House Press Office in under an hour this morning. The longer version? Read on:

With all of the news about White House credentialing--hard passes vs. day passes, Congress passes vs. White House passes--it became clear that few people, including many White House correspondents themselves, understood exactly the process that allowed their brethren to show up for work each day. Since Fishbowl D.C.'s main goal is to cover the media industry in Washington, we thought that figuring out that process was a natural story.

We started planning last week while President Bush was in Europe, enlisting the help of MediaBistro's editor-in-chief and talking with several White House correspondents about how the process for admittance should (in theory) work. According to everyone with whom we talked, MediaBistro, Fishbowl D.C.'s parent, should meet the criteria for a day pass to cover the White House: It is (a) independent and nonpartisan, (b) regularly published, and (c) primarily supported by subscribers or advertising.

Certainly, having read the articles last week in the Wall Street Journal and the Los Angeles Times, as well as this review of a forthcoming history of the Washington press corps, we figured we were at least as "real" as many of the more colorful characters who have admitted to the briefing room.

While several correspondents offered to help get Fishbowl a day pass, it seemed a more appropriate experiment to try without any special access: Exactly how easy is it for an average no-name journalist with no special connections to get access to the White House?

We had been told that the more time you give the Press Office to get clearance, the easier it is, so we started yesterday laying the groundwork. We called four times seeking admittance. After the first call to the Press Office, we spent the rest of the afternoon dealing with the Media Affairs Office. (By way of explanation, the Press Office handles the regular White House press corps, and Media Affairs handles internet and local press.)

We first spoke with a very perky intern whose name we didn't catch but who helpfully took down our name, publication, Social Security Number and date of birth. She promised a spokesperson would return the call promptly. Three more calls to the Media Affairs office over the course of the day, up until 6:10 p.m. last night, yielded nothing. Each time we explained what publication we represented and that we wanted to cover the morning gaggle. John, Jenny, and Caroline--the three equally helpful and perky interns with whom we spoke--all promised a call back from an unnamed spokesperson. They said they weren't allowed to give out his name. Finally during the last call last night, we begged to speak with anyone who wasn't an intern. Unfortunately for us, Caroline said, "everyone is in a meeting."

Now we once did press work ourselves, and have some experience in not returning press calls, so we weren't initially put off by the lack of response. Indeed we've heard from both reporters who cover the White House and former Bush press aides that not returning phone calls is pretty much standard operating procedure. Today we decided to try the more direct approach and just show up.

We put on a tie and suit, and with a reporter's notebook in hand, we looked very much the part of a real journalist. At 8:33 a.m. this morning, we showed up at the north gate on Pennsylvania Avenue, where the press enter every morning. (We confirmed today with James "Jeff Gannon" Guckert that this was the same gate he used every morning to enter.) After explaining to the uniformed Secret Service agent at the gate that we were there to cover the morning gaggle, we got buzzed up to the guard house. After presenting a driver's license, we waited while the officer checked against the people cleared for the day. Perhaps not surprisingly, Media Affairs hadn't put our name on the list.

The officer had us call the Press Office from a nearby phone and once again give them our personal information: Name, publication, SSN, DOB. The intern answering the phone promised that as soon as the woman who dealt with clearances showed up, they'd get back to us.

Meanwhile, we leaned on the fence outside the guard house and read John Steinbeck's "Travels with Charley: In Search of America." A steady trickle of reporters passed by, and we spent several minutes chatting with an old friend, AP's Nedra Pickler, as she went in for the day. After about twenty minutes, another officer came out of the guard house and explained that he had just talked with the Press Office: Fishbowl D.C. had officially been denied access for the day. No further reason. He presented us with the Media Affairs phone number scribbled on a napkin. We thanked him and departed.

Everything today was very smooth and very professional. Now we'll start trying to get in to tomorrow's gaggle.

The scoreboard thus far:

Fishbowl: 0
White House: 1
Today's Humiliation Factor: Low