IMC - 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.
source : cnn.com
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