HuffPost blasts White House for reportedly pulling press pool spot

WHCA cannot ensure that the reports filed by government-selected poolers will be held to the same standards that we have had in place for decades,

he wrote

WHCA has assigned seats based on coverage factors such as regular staffing from outlets - crews covering the WH every day, sending staffing for pooled events etc. There's a gap in public understanding of how WHCA works and what it does, but people would be shocked to learn how logistics-focused it really is,

she wrote

Legacy outlets who have participated in the press pool for decades will still be allowed to join, fear not,

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters during a briefing Tuesday

At the time we initiated this process in early May, roughly 40% of hard pass holders had not accessed the White House complex in the prior 90 days,

the White House said in a 2023 statement to Politico

This is not a partisan issue, this is not a left-leaning media issue or a right-leaning media issue,

she said

Under the longstanding WHCA process to determine the pool rotation, and under the new process the Trump administration implemented this week, Axios is not informed about the circumstances under which spots become available,

Wilkins said

People are annoyed, to say the least,

said one veteran White House reporter

While we believe the WHCA should retain the right to decide who is in the press pool, Axios continues to participate in the current rotation because it is our job to cover every administration clinically and provide the unbiased reporting our WHCA colleagues expect,

he added

We want more outlets and new outlets to have a chance ot take part in the press pool, to cover the administration's unprecedented achievements up close, front-and-center,

Leavitt said Tuesday when explaining the White House's unprecedented decision to control which reporters made up the pool

So, it's not about accuracy, it's not about competence, and I'll let them explain what it's about,

said Date, who penned a book about Trump entitled 'Useful Idiot.

The Biden White House restricted access to about 400 reporters. The Trump White House is letting more reporters into the pool rotation, which will allow more news outlets to ask questions of the president and vice president. It’s not without merit to debate the administrative matter of whether the association or the White House should control the pool. But as of now, the record stands that Biden restricted press access and Trump has expanded it,

he added

This is the most closed, control freak administration I've ever covered,

David E. Sanger, the chief Washington correspondent of The New York Times, told Downie

The real question is about press access to covering the White House and the president. Based on what is happening now, there is no comparison between what the Biden White House did and what the Trump White House just did,

he told Secrets

The emerging electorate isn’t tuned into mainstream media,

Buchanan said

Over 60% of voters under age 55 get their news from a social media source. Over a third of black and Hispanic voters turn to YouTube. For men under 55, 20% are listening to podcasts and 25% getting news from X,

he said

It is essential in a democracy for the public to have access to news about their government from an independent, free press,

the editors said

Peter Baker (journalist)new York Times Chief White House Correspondent

Having served as a Moscow correspondent in the early days of Putin’s reign,” the Trump White House’s pool takeover “reminds me of how the Kremlin took over its own press pool and made sure that only compliant journalists were given access.”

New York Times chief White House correspondent Peter Baker didn’t say this lightly

If you think MAGA benefits from this in the long term, you’re dead wrong. You would not have trusted [a] Democratic admin to pick its own pool – but now that door is open.”

Heinrich told a Trump promoter on X

The administration has created a swell of flattering media coverage, ... a gauzy bubble around its every decision, no matter how destructive or incoherent.”

Merlan wrote

This is a short-sighted decision, and it will feel a lot different when a future Democratic administration kicks out conservative-leaning outlets and other critical voices,

she wrote