It’s unknown why the White House would not seek to accommodate the hometown journalists. It’s unclear why the White House has continued to pre-screen journalists allowed into the East Room and other venues such as an auditorium in the White House-adjacent Eisenhower Executive Office Building. “Who is blocked today may be different from who is blocked tomorrow - and since access curbs tend to stick around, it’s a worthwhile fight,” Washington Post media critic Erik Wemple wrote in a July column.įormer Correspondents’ Association president Tom DeFrank of National Journal told The Post in June that he signed the letter because “aving covered the White House since June of 1968 as a Newsweek intern, I’ve seen a troubling erosion in access that was once routine.” Reporters fear that the practice of curating press allowed near the president may continue in future administrations. In June, 73 journalists representing nearly two-thirds of briefing room seats signed a letter demanding that large venues return to their prior open-press status. The prescreening of press for large presidential events began during the COVID-19 pandemic but has lasted long after the relatively small White House briefing room returned to full capacity in June 2021 - outraging the White House press corps. “The Atlanta Journal-Constitution was reminded about this last week, and opted to send their sports correspondent to cover the event for the paper,” said the official. It is longstanding protocol to allow one reporter per news outlet to cover events in the East Room so that the White House can accommodate as many news organizations as possible.” White House Correspondents’ Association President Tamara Keith, a reporter for NPR, said the association “continues to advocate that events in the East Room be open press,” meaning open to all journalists on the White House campus.Ī White House official told The Post, “A sports correspondent for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution attended and covered today’s event for the paper. In fact, at least one reporter who did not RSVP was able to enter the event, meaning that the White House did not actually check to ensure that journalists were on the pre-approved list. The White House snubbed Atlanta’s top newspaper by not allowing two of its journalists to cover Biden’s celebration of the Braves’ 2021 World Series. Large media outlets are routinely allowed to have multiple people at such events and journalists admitted to the East Room on Monday said there seemed to be enough space available to fit more press. It’s unclear why the White House would not seek to accommodate the hometown journalists from a state that Biden carried by fewer than 12,000 votes in 2020. The White House Correspondents’ Association has tried to convince Biden’s team to restore press access norms of allowing all reporters at the White House to attend large events - but without success. The exclusion was the latest flashpoint in a long-running struggle between the White House and press advocates who want to restore media access to what it was before the COVID-19 pandemic. The Post independently confirmed the details.Īdding to the significance of the day for Atlanta residents, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called on the baseball team to have a “conversation” about changing its name just after the Biden-hosted gathering. Politico’s West Wing Playbook first reported the exclusion. The paper was told that just one person could go - meaning a sports writer was the only Journal-Constitution employee admitted, despite pleas for reconsideration due to the importance of the event to the Atlanta community. The Journal-Constitution’s Washington correspondent and a photographer unsuccessfully sought to attend the Braves event in the nearly 3,000 square foot East Room. The stunning slight came about a week after Biden’s press agents turned away four Orthodox Jewish reporters from a presidential event on hate crimes in another confounding access decision. WASHINGTON - The White House press office on Monday surprisingly snubbed Atlanta’s top newspaper by barring two of its journalists from covering President Biden’s celebration of the Atlanta Braves‘ World Series championship. White House unveils new press badge restrictions, rules for accessīiden White House silent on IRS visiting ‘Twitter Files’ reporter Matt Taibbi ‘There is no restriction’ on Biden press access despite mysterious prescreening: WH Ben & Jerry’s co-founder busted in DC while protesting Julian Assange prosecution
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