White
House blocks news organizations from press briefing
Posted 24/2/17
http://money.cnn.com/2017/02/24/media/cnn-blocked-white-house-gaggle/index.html
CNN and other news outlets were blocked on Friday from
attending an off-camera White House press briefing that other reporters were
hand-picked to attend, raising alarm among media organizations and First
Amendment watchdogs.
The decision
struck veteran White House journalists as unprecedented in the modern era, and
escalated tensions in the already fraught relationship between the Trump
administration and the press.
The New
York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Politico, BuzzFeed, the BBC and the Guardian
were also among those excluded from the meeting, which was held in White House
press secretary Sean Spicer's office. The meeting, which is known as a gaggle,
was held in lieu of the daily televised Q-and-A session in the White House briefing
room.
When
reporters from these news organizations tried to enter Spicer's office for the
gaggle, they were told they could not attend because they were not on the list
of attendees.
In a brief
statement defending the move, administration spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said the
White House "had the pool there so everyone would be represented and get
an update from us today."
The White
House press pool usually includes representatives from one television outlet,
one radio outlet and one print outlet, as well as reporters from a few wire
services. In this case, four of the five major television networks -- NBC, ABC,
CBS and Fox News -- were invited and attended the meeting, while only CNN was
blocked.
And while
The New York Times was kept out, conservative media organizations Breitbart
News, The Washington Times and One America News Network were also allowed in.
"This
is an unacceptable development by the Trump White House," CNN said in a
statement. "Apparently this is how they retaliate when you report facts they
don't like. We'll keep reporting regardless."
New York
Times executive editor Dean Baquet wrote, "Nothing like this has ever
happened at the White House in our long history of covering multiple
administrations of different parties. We strongly protest the exclusion of The
New York Times and the other news organizations. Free media access to a
transparent government is obviously of crucial national interest."
The White
House press office had informed reporters earlier that the traditional,
on-camera press briefing would be replaced by a gaggle in Spicer's office,
reporters in attendance said. Asked about the move by the White House
Correspondents Association, the White House said it would take the press pool
and invite others as well.
The WHCA
protested that decision on the grounds that it would unfairly exclude certain
news organizations, the reporters said. The White House did not budge, and when
reporters arrived at Spicer's office, White House communications officials only
allowed in reporters from specific media outlets.
CNN
reporters attempted to access the gaggle when it began at about 1:45 p.m. ET.
As they walked with a large group of fellow journalists from the White House
briefing room toward Spicer's office, an administration official turned them
around, informing them CNN wasn't on the list of attendees.
Reporters
from The Associated Press, Time magazine and USA Today decided in the moment to
boycott the briefing because of how it was handled.
Asked
during the gaggle whether CNN and The New York Times were blocked because the
administration was unhappy with their reporting, Spicer responded: "We had
it as pool, and then we expanded it, and we added some folks to come cover it.
It was my decision to expand the pool."
Several
news outlets spoke out against the White House's decision.
"The
Wall Street Journal strongly objects to the White House's decision to bar
certain media outlets from today's gaggle," a Journal spokesman said.
"Had we known at the time, we would not have participated and we will not
participate in such closed briefings in the future."
The White
House move was called "appalling" by Washington Post Executive Editor
Marty Baron, who said the Trump administration is on "an undemocratic
path."
Politico
editor-in-chief John Harris said that "selectively excluding news
organizations from White House briefings is misguided."
Said
BuzzFeed editor-in-chief Ben Smith: "While we strongly object to the White
House's apparent attempt to punish news outlets whose coverage it does not
like, we won't let these latest antics distract us from continuing to cover
this administration fairly and aggressively."
The
Associated Press said it "believes the public should have as much access
to the president as possible."
The White
House Correspondents Association also protested the move.
"The
WHCA board is protesting strongly against how today's gaggle is being handled
by the White House," it said in a statement. "We encourage the
organizations that were allowed in to share the material with others in the
press corps who were not. The board will be discussing this further with White
House staff."
Hours
earlier, at the Conservative Political Action Conference outside Washington,
President Trump mocked and disparaged the news media. He said that much of the
press represents "the enemy of the people."
"They
are the enemy of the people because they have no sources," Trump said.
"They just make them up when there are none."
He also
said reporters "shouldn't be allowed" to use unnamed sources.
CNNMoney (New York)
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