Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign excluded reporters for the Bay Area's two largest ethnic newspapers from a fundraiser Friday at the Sheraton Palace Hotel -- a perceived snub that led to days of harsh coverage.

"Our main concern is open access for Chinese media and other ethnic media in this presidential campaign," said Joyce Chen, news editor for Sing Tao, a daily published in Chinese. "We stand by our commitment to serve our readers and our community, which often lack access from government and exposure from mainstream English (language) media."

Readers in the Chinese community have an intense loyalty to Sing Tao and the World Journal, said Sandy Close, head of New America Media, a national ethnic media coalition based in San Francisco.

"If they're disrespected by a candidate, no matter what the security conditions, space requirements and pressures they were under, (campaign officials) should move to remedy it immediately," said Close, who counseled the Clinton campaign when it sought her advice this weekend. "If they move quickly, they can use it to build a bridge, not burn a bridge."

Reporters from Sing Tao and Chinese-language daily World Journal, as well as the smaller China Press were denied entry to the noon fundraiser.

It turned out that the three papers had not been included in the mailing list for a press advisory sent out two days ahead that instructed media representatives to check in by 11:45 a.m. World Journal reporter Portia Li said she arrived about 10 minutes before noon.

Li, a prominent journalist who has worked for more than two decades in the Bay Area, said she knew such events routinely begin late and that reporters often are allowed in after they start.

But a staffer told her she was too late to get in. When Li argued, the staffer explained that because she was considered "foreign media" -- which were limited to a single pool reporter -- she could not go in.

Any local media who checked in by the cutoff were admitted.

When Li showed her business card, the staffer asked for two forms of identification, which seemed to Li to be insulting. She said she had never had to show identification at similar events.

"She kept saying this is only open for local media, not foreign press," Li said. "I told her, I'm not foreign press. I'm local media. I was really angry. It's not about myself. It's about how the mainstream looks at Chinese (people) as a whole. Why do they call us foreigners, even when we have a local address on our business card?"

Readers of ethnic media turn to such publications for their emphasis on issues relevant to their community, Li said. That's why she wanted to cover the fundraiser herself, rather than have her paper run a story from the foreign-media pool or from a mainstream American wire service, which is what it ended up doing.

World Journal was founded in Taiwan and Sing Tao was founded in Hong Kong, but both have substantial Bay Area and national editions.

After Li left, she called local Chinese civil rights leaders and Democratic leaders for their take. They in turn called Clinton's campaign, and another staffer reiterated the check-in policy to Li by phone from Washington, D.C.

After World Journal and other Chinese media ran stories about being excluded, the campaign apologized.

"It's important for people running the campaign to understand there are a lot of ethnic papers here that serve the ethnic community. You can't just look at them and see them as different," said Likcon Lam, editor in chief of Ming Pao, the Bay Area's third-largest Chinese-language paper.

Ming Pao's reporter and photographer were on the original press list and were allowed in around 11:45 a.m. The campaign based the list on its own research and requests from outlets to be included.

Clinton's campaign has pledged to improve its press list and promises that Clinton will meet with Chinese-language media and Asian Americans during her next Bay Area visit.