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White House Bars NYT, CNN, and Politico from Briefing

nytimes.com

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Re: White House Bars NYT, CNN, and Politico from Briefing

#41

Post by pm90 »

clamprecht wrote: post #11

For anyone who has actually watched these press briefings in their entirety: Does anyone else think these are pretty much the worst way to get to the bottom of issues? Here's how it seems to work: * The press secretary (or President, or whoever) makes a statement * He or she chooses a journalist to ask a question * Journalist asks question * Press secretary answers question in as much or as little detail as he/she wa…

The Press Secretary is the "Official" voice of the White House, and thus is accountable for WH's actions. Now, if nobody knows what was officially said, the WH can deny it and there will be no record of it.

I understand that the current press secretary/briefings are pretty much useless. But they are officially recorded as being useless, which is very important for accountability. Seems like another stunt for the current administration to play fast and loose with facts.

Re: White House Bars NYT, CNN, and Politico from Briefing

#42

Post by Veen »

andriesm wrote: post #18

Good for Trump. CNN and friends not only have no credibility left, they've treated him with such disrespect and disdain that I'm not surprised he ain't doing them any favors. Trump will probably leverage social media and YouTube a lot, and the media can continue to re-spin stories downstream like before. Just far fewer people will take them seriously.

As a non-American, it fascinates me to watch the mental gymnastics indulged in by Trump supporters to justify behavior that's clearly harmful and indicative of more harmful behavior to come.

Does it not seem like a bad thing that your president is excluding media that are critical of him from press briefings? Doesn't that seem like it might not be a good thing for the general well-being of the nation?

Re: White House Bars NYT, CNN, and Politico from Briefing

#44

Post by sidlls »

I just can't get worked up about this. Had these "news" organizations been doing their jobs I might be more concerned. As it stands this is just elevating one group of propaganda orgs over others.

The difference between what Trump has done here and what prior administrations did is the publicity and brazen transparency around it. I find it amusing that people think this is somehow a terrible, ominous event. This is a trifling thing compared to the egregious ethical violations and corruption, especially around information dissemination through the press, that has existed in this institution for decades.

The most interesting and concerning thing about it is the apparent weight given to these briefings. Except in very rare circumstances (e.g. killing of OBL, some attack like 9/11), these things are basically just PR displays by the administration. They serve no newsworthy purpose.

Re: White House Bars NYT, CNN, and Politico from Briefing

#45

Post by yummyfajitas »

mtgentry wrote: post #6

Only the AP choose to not attend out of solidarity? Shame on ABC, CBS, and the rest.

I don't recall the NYT, CNN or Politico refusing to attend when Obama kicked the Washington Times and NY Post out.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2008/story?id=6156794&pag...

Shame on them too?

Re: White House Bars NYT, CNN, and Politico from Briefing

#47

Post by bullfightonmars »

clamprecht wrote: post #11

For anyone who has actually watched these press briefings in their entirety: Does anyone else think these are pretty much the worst way to get to the bottom of issues? Here's how it seems to work: * The press secretary (or President, or whoever) makes a statement * He or she chooses a journalist to ask a question * Journalist asks question * Press secretary answers question in as much or as little detail as he/she wa…

These press briefings provide direct, multilateral, and unmoderated access to the Presidential Administration by the Press Corps. They are incredibly important to holding the administration to account for policy.

Can the administration spin their own narrative? Sure, but they can't directly control or audit the questions asked.

Re: White House Bars NYT, CNN, and Politico from Briefing

#48

Post by aestetix »

Title is misleading. Press was blocked from a single press briefing. I do not see anything in the article about briefings going forward.

Can someone change the title so it's less sensationalized?

Edit: thanks to the moderator for removing the "s" and making the word "Briefing" singular to accurately reflect the article.

Re: White House Bars NYT, CNN, and Politico from Briefing

#49

Post by Jun8 »

clamprecht wrote: post #11

For anyone who has actually watched these press briefings in their entirety: Does anyone else think these are pretty much the worst way to get to the bottom of issues? Here's how it seems to work: * The press secretary (or President, or whoever) makes a statement * He or she chooses a journalist to ask a question * Journalist asks question * Press secretary answers question in as much or as little detail as he/she wa…

You're right in that this does not significantly block NYT, etc.'s ability to gather news (btw you can check the transcripts online: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings) but it's an important symbolic gesture by the White House.

Here's a cool post of how the 49 seats assignments have changed over time: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/03/25/ho...

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