The battle against the media continues with the newest order from The White House. Yesterday, certain news outlets were blocked from attending an off-camera press briefing. Some of the blocked media organizations were, The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Politico, BuzzFeed, the BBC and the Guardian.
So, what has The White House picking and choosing who they allow into these briefings? We are all aware that the Trump administration has expressed their concerns regarding certain media organizations and their “fake news” reports. In the president’s most-recent press conference he said, “I don’t mind bad stories. I can handle a bad story better than anyone, as long as it’s true.”
Many said that press conference was simply a rant about the media, however; it has only intensified from there. Those affected by the order made sure their voices were not silenced.
“Apparently, this is how they retaliate when you report facts they don’t like. We’ll keep reporting regardless,” said CNN.
Lauren Easton, the director of media relations for the Associated Press also voiced her concerns, “The AP believes the public should have as much access to the president as possible.”
Despite all of these concerns, The White House says that this decision was not intended to exclude specific outlets. Instead, it was described as a “pool” event, meaning that it was limited.
According to The Washington Post, “The White House said the decision was not made to exclude journalists from organizations that have been the most critical of Trump in their reporting in favor of those who are more favorable.”
Sarah Sanders, a spokeswoman for The White House added, “We decided to add a couple of additional people beyond the pool. Nothing more than that.”
To many media outlets, this decision is more than that Sanders stated.
“We strongly protest the exclusion of The New York Times and other news organizations. Free media access to a transparent government is obviously of crucial national interest,” said The New York Times’ executive editor, Dean Baquet.
President Trump is not the first to handpick reporters to cover certain meetings. In fact, President Obama did so for off-the-record conversations. However, what is unusual about this situation is that this was a White House briefing that had been publicly announced. CNN reported that reporters from the banned organizations were not allowed in because they were not on the list.
President Trump has pushed the media, but the media refused to be pushed. We can only hope that the media, and this new administration find common ground in order to bring transparent reporting back to the American people.