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 administrationPost 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.
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