Associated Press
News organizations including The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, CNN and POLITICO were blocked from joining an informal, on the record White House press briefing Friday.
The Associated Press chose not to participate in the gaggle following the move by White House press secretary Sean Spicer.
“The AP believes the public should have as much access to the president as possible,” Lauren Easton, the AP’s director of media relations, said in a statement.
Several news organizations were allowed in, including the conservative website Breitbart News. The site’s former executive chairman, Steve Bannon, is chief strategist to President Donald Trump.
The White House defended the decision not to include some news organizations.
“We invited the pool so everyone was represented. We decided to add a couple of additional people beyond the pool. Nothing more than that,” said White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders.
Earlier Friday in a speech before the Conservative Political Action Conference, President Donald Trump railed against the media.
Reaction from barred media outlets was swift.
“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,” Dean Baquet, the Times’ executive editor, said in a statement.
“This is an unacceptable development by the Trump White House. Apparently, this is how they retaliate when you report facts they don’t like. We’ll keep reporting regardless,” CNN said in a statement.
Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
4 comments
Voncile
February 24, 2017 at 9:29 pm
I support President Trump. Let these ‘Fake’ news outlets get their news second hand.
Becky Jamin
February 24, 2017 at 9:37 pm
Personally, I think the best thing for ALL news agencies to do is to stop reporting ANYTHING Trump. He is the maniac in the WH and every news agency reports EVERYTHING he does and says. STOP. It should have stopped during the campaign but no, he got ALL the free coverage. More than any other candidate. All because he was/is so outrageous. He is a psychotic sociopathic narcissist who will stop at nothing to become the grand ruler/dictator of the world.
William Foote
February 25, 2017 at 7:51 am
Why should freedom of speech and freedom of press be allowed? Why should a government which is doing what it believes to be right allow itself to be criticized? It would not allow opposition by lethal weapons. Ideas are much more fatal things than guns. Why should any man be allowed to buy a printing press and disseminate pernicious opinions calculated to embarrass the government? “Nikolai Lenin 1920”
Becky Jamin
February 25, 2017 at 9:22 am
Maybe because it’s the first amendment? Isn’t 45 supposed to be respecting the constitution? Why do people who are under the public microscope do such shady crap and why shouldn’t the public know about that shady crap? It sounds to me like you’d be better off joining the land of Lenin. just sayin
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