The White House and the correspondents that cover it are increasingly at odds, as escalating battles over fairness, access, editorial decisions and a rapidly-changing media ecosystem are spilling into public view.
The latest gambit? A White House takeover of the seating assignments in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room.
The White House is preparing to take control of the seating assignments in the room, and the White House Correspondents’ Association, which represents the journalists that cover the President and his administration, is preparing to push back.
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The WHCA board sent its members a note Monday, telling them what it was planning to do after Axios reported Sunday that the White House was preparing a “fundamental restructuring of the briefing room, based on metrics more reflective of how media is consumed today.”
While the details are not known, it is possible that some news organizations that have seats could be moved toward the back rows, or not have any guaranteed seats at all, while outlets that are friendlier could receive better treatment. The WHCA says that it reached out to the White House Sunday after the report came out.
“The White House should abandon this wrong-headed effort and show the American people they’re not afraid to explain their policies and field questions from an independent media free from government control,” the WHCA told its members Monday. “But if the White House pushes forward, it will become even more clear that the administration is seeking to cynically seize control of the system through which the independent press organizes itself, so that it is easier to exact punishment on outlets over their coverage.”
The organization noted that the White House had already banished the Associated Press from covering many events because the AP Style Guide still uses the language “Gulf of Mexico” rather than “Gulf of America.” It was a move that seemed to ignite a public war of words between the administration and the WHCA, with the AP now suing in court over the matter, and the WHCA filing an amicus brief in support of the AP.
The WHCA may be best known to the public for its annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner, which traditionally is attended by the President, and with a popular entertainer (usually a comedian) giving a performance.
During his first term President Trump opted not to attend, and reports indicated that he was not planning to attend this year’s dinner, which will be held next Month.
The WHCA told its members on March 29 that it had canceled a planned performance by comedian Amber Ruffin at its annual dinner, after members of the White House press team amplified comments she made on a podcast in which she referred to members of the administration as “kind of a bunch of murderers.”
“At this consequential moment for journalism, I want to ensure the focus is not on thepoliticsof division but entirely on awarding our colleagues for their outstanding work and providing scholarship and mentorship to the next generation of journalists,” WHCA president Eugene Daniels wrote in a note to WHCA members.
The WHCA also pushed back on the claim that the changes are meant to elevate digital journalists that are more reflective of the modern media ecosystem.
“Our organization has always been and will always be open to professional outlets covering the White House, and we’ve evolved over more than a century to reflect the changes in our press corps,” the WHCA wrote. “The most obvious end result of this reported plan is the punishment, not elevation, of journalists.”
That being said, there is no question that the media ecosystem writ large has been going through a massive transformation, with creators, podcasters and other commentators finding significant audiences on new media platforms.
The White House understandably wants to elevate many of those voices (many of which are pro-Trump), while the WHCA understandably wants to give priority to journalists that cover the administration day in and day out priority.
But for a White House obsessed with dealmaking, Axios raised another possibility that could deescalate things: A WHCA member reportedly brought up the possibility of having the White House Press Secretary always serve as the organization’s president. it was an idea, however, that the WHCA pushed back on.
“We’ll also add the notion of having the White House press secretary preside over an independent organization of journalists who are negotiating access with the administration is ridiculous,” the board wrote. “No board member or official representative of the WHCA has ever put forward such a non-starter suggestion.”
