After Frustrating Officials, a Longtime U.N. Blogger Has His Access Curtailed

"Matthew Lee, 50, ... has long covered the United Nations... Ten years ago, Mr. Lee gained a coveted slot as an early blogger at the United Nations, earning him free office space and a press pass granting wide access to the agency's complex.

Over the years, he has asked plenty of provocative questions of the organization's officials, and has used a wild tabloid style in blogging about perceived corruption, such as an internal United Nations audit related to a bribery scheme...

Mr. Lee has become a controversial figure among agency officials for his inflammatory posts, his obsessive claims of malfeasance and a combative style that has prompted Stéphane Dujarric, the spokesman for the United Nations secretary general, to occasionally cut short briefings after barrages of questions from Mr. Lee, which sometimes has left other journalists grumbling.

Now, after years of frustration, the United Nations seems to have had enough. Mr. Lee was disciplined after refusing to leave a January meeting held by his colleagues in the United Nations press briefing room...

Workers recently cleaned out his office at the direction of Cristina Gallach, the head of the United Nations' Public Relations Department and a target of Mr. Lee's wrath. The United Nations also revoked his resident correspondent status, which is granted to about 200 journalists who cover the organization regularly...

He called the downgrading an attempt to censor him and accused United Nations officials of siding with journalists who disliked him. He also said the move was retaliation for his critical coverage of the secretary general, Ban Ki-moon. 'This is a totalitarian country's answer,' he said. 'You ask the wrong question, and they turn against you and turn the media against you.'..."