Examing the exclusion of CNN and the New York Times by the White House
This is the headline of a piece posted by the Huffington Post:
"Trump White House Bars News Organizations From Press Briefing"
The story is about how CNN, the New York Times and the Huffington Post were excluded from a closed-door press briefing conducted by Sean Spicer today (Friday, 2/24/2017). While excluding those organizations, it should be noted that Mr. Spicer invited Breitbart, One America News and the Washington Times, all of whom have a very conservative bias.
Here is a quote from New York Times executive editor Dean Baquet:
"Nothing like this has ever happened at the White House in our long history of covering multiple administrations of different parties,” Times executive editor Dean Baquet said in a statement. “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."
He is right. It has not happened to the New York Times. But it did happen to Fox News during the Obama Administration. Here is a quote from Anita Dunn, then White House Director of Communications in 2009 when she appeared on CNN:
"What I think is fair to say about Fox — and certainly it's the way we view it — is that it really is more a wing of the Republican Party. They take their talking points, put them on the air; take their opposition research, put them on the air. And that's fine. But let's not pretend they're a news network the way CNN is."
So it turns out that 45 is not the first to call a cable news network a purveyor of fake news, although not in those direct terms. But the implication is clear. If you want to parse this then perhaps you should check out the White House blog attack on Fox News on September 30, 2009 where it reads:
"For even more Fox lies, check out the latest "Truth-O-Meter" feature from Politifact that debunks a false claim about a White House staffer that continues to be repeated by Glenn Beck and others on the network."
How did the other media outlets respond at the time when the Obama Administration banned Fox News program "Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace" from a round-robin presidential interview earlier in September of 2009? They protested. They said it was wrong.
They were right. It was wrong then and it is just as wrong now. The burning question is, will the conservative news media show the same courage and step up to defend the freedom of the press and the need for news outlets who are critical of 45's administration to have the same access as those who are his cheerleaders?
I predict they will fail to step up.
Stay tuned.
"Trump White House Bars News Organizations From Press Briefing"
The story is about how CNN, the New York Times and the Huffington Post were excluded from a closed-door press briefing conducted by Sean Spicer today (Friday, 2/24/2017). While excluding those organizations, it should be noted that Mr. Spicer invited Breitbart, One America News and the Washington Times, all of whom have a very conservative bias.
Here is a quote from New York Times executive editor Dean Baquet:
"Nothing like this has ever happened at the White House in our long history of covering multiple administrations of different parties,” Times executive editor Dean Baquet said in a statement. “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."
He is right. It has not happened to the New York Times. But it did happen to Fox News during the Obama Administration. Here is a quote from Anita Dunn, then White House Director of Communications in 2009 when she appeared on CNN:
"What I think is fair to say about Fox — and certainly it's the way we view it — is that it really is more a wing of the Republican Party. They take their talking points, put them on the air; take their opposition research, put them on the air. And that's fine. But let's not pretend they're a news network the way CNN is."
So it turns out that 45 is not the first to call a cable news network a purveyor of fake news, although not in those direct terms. But the implication is clear. If you want to parse this then perhaps you should check out the White House blog attack on Fox News on September 30, 2009 where it reads:
"For even more Fox lies, check out the latest "Truth-O-Meter" feature from Politifact that debunks a false claim about a White House staffer that continues to be repeated by Glenn Beck and others on the network."
How did the other media outlets respond at the time when the Obama Administration banned Fox News program "Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace" from a round-robin presidential interview earlier in September of 2009? They protested. They said it was wrong.
They were right. It was wrong then and it is just as wrong now. The burning question is, will the conservative news media show the same courage and step up to defend the freedom of the press and the need for news outlets who are critical of 45's administration to have the same access as those who are his cheerleaders?
I predict they will fail to step up.
Stay tuned.
posted by me at 2:20 PM
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