The south side of the White House is seen covered in snow Sunday, January 13, 2019, as photographed from the South Lawn. (Official White House photo by Tia Dufour)
The White House now wants reporters to let it know what their questions during its press briefings will be – in advance, according to a new report.
The Daily Beast said "three sources" confirmed that Joe Biden's communications staff members "have already on occasion probed reporters to see what questions they plan on asking new White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki."
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki (Video screenshot)
The issue already has been raised during a meeting of the White House Correspondents Association when, "multiple sources" explained, "leaders at the meeting advised print reporters to push back against requests by the White House press team to learn of questions in advance, or simply to not respond to the Biden team’s inquiries."
"While it’s a relief to see briefings return, particularly with a commitment to factual information, the press can’t really do its job in the briefing room if the White House is picking and choosing the questions they want," one White House correspondent said, in the report. "That’s not really a free press at all."
Former President Trump regularly described the legacy media as "fake news." But that was as that legacy media carried for years the claims – now entirely debunked – of that Russia collusion by his 2016 campaign.
Individuals in the media, such as Jim Acosta of CNN, openly called the president a liar during those briefings under the Trump administration. Acosta even refused to give up the microphone during one such briefing so that he could deliver a diatribe against the president.
The conflict that followed the open insults from legacy media personalities prompted President Trump to tell Sarah Sanders, the press secretary at the time, not to bother with press briefings.
Sarah Sanders (Photo: YouTube screenshot)
"The reason Sarah Sanders does not go to the 'podium' much anymore is that the press covers her so rudely & inaccurately, in particular certain members of the press. I told her not to bother, the word gets out anyway! Most will never cover us fairly & hence, the term, Fake News!" Trump said at the time.
A spokesman for the WHCA said at the time not having briefings "sets a terrible precedent."
White House officials also pointed out that the president frequently was addressing the American public directly, and they did not need to hear of events through the filter of the press corps' own political agendas.
The Daily Beast said the Biden administration's requests for question topics "prompted concerns among the White House press corps, whose members, like many reporters, are sensitive to the perception that they are coordinating with political communications staffers."
The Daily Beast said the WHCA Zoom meeting was off the record, and while its staff members participated, its reporting was done entirely outside of that information.
Psaki, during the briefings she's held, repeatedly has injected snide remarks about the Trump administration. For instance, she's talked about providing "accurate" information. Further, she claimed that the Biden administration was working on overturning Trump's "Muslim ban" on immigrants from terror-sponsoring regions of the world.
The derogatory term is inaccurate since Trump's ban didn't prevent Muslims from entering the country, only those individuals, no matter their beliefs, from parts of the world where individuals could not be vetted for their propensities for violence.
The Daily Beast explained, "Biden’s press team did not deny that staffers had solicited questions from reporters. But the White House contended that it has tried to foster a better relationship with the press corps than the previous administration, and has tried to reach out to reporters directly in order to avoid appearing to dodge questions during briefings."
But knowing topics in advance could allow a press secretary to avoid calling on a reporter with an unwanted topic.
The report explained that previous administrations would ask reporters for the same information at times.
The report noted, "Psaki’s tenure thus far has received positive reviews from many media outlets. The Washington Post told readers to get ready for a 'reality-grounded' press briefings, which Forbes has already described as 'must-see TV.' The New York Times noted that she had extended an 'olive branch' to reporters during her first briefing, which Vox described as a 'breath of fresh air.'"
These comments come from legacy media whose members once asked then-candidate Biden that hard-hitting and revealing question about what was his favorite flavor of ice cream.
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