On Wednesday night, Politico reporter and White House Correspondents Association (WHCA) president Eugene Daniels — who’s soon leaving both positions for MSNBC — sent a lengthy email to members strongly suggesting they refuse to participate in the new press pool rotations created by the White House Press Office (or at least make a fuss out of it) and complaining that expanding who participates “threatens the independence of a free press in the United States.”
He even went as far as to say America’s no longer “free society” because “leaders must not be able to choose their own press corps.”
Someone should ask the nine other WHCA board members if they have that ugly view of America.
“What I do know is that this board will not assist any attempt by this administration or any other in taking over independent press coverage of the White House. Each of your organizations will have to decide whether or not you will take part in these new, government-appointed pools...I know there’s a lot to weigh...I wish we weren’t in this place,” Daniels not-so-subtly declared.
Daniels further cast doubt on those reporters who still choose to participate in the pool — now consisting of one wire reporter, two TV correspondents and AV crew, one radio, one print, three photojournalists, and one “new media” spot — by saying their dispatches from pool events (such as Air Force One travel and Oval Office events) couldn’t be definitively trusted since the WHCA’s “standards that we have had in place for decades” won’t be guaranteed.
“To be very clear, this change to our procedure is not about any of you that have been pooling and who understand what it means for that work product to be an unvarnished, independent and professional first draft of history,” Daniels said after he cast doubt on his colleagues.
This led into ten different questions the White House and reporters who still do participate in the pool have to ask themselves.
Of note, they included a legitimate question about whether pool reporters on Air Force One would still be charged airfare (including food) that the WHCA and news organizations themselves had footed.
Others were ominous, including casting aspersions on TV outlets outside of the usual rotation (ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News, and NBC) wouldn’t share footage: “Will TV stations that are not one of the five networks share their material, or are they just taking up pool spots for their unilateral purposes?”
Daniels continued to dish the shade (click “expand”):
You should also ask if those rotations will be created as they were last night, by calling news organizations of choice instead of a rotation all of you can dependably rely on. One that is planned in advance, which allows it to be reliably staffed and ensures representation of our diverse membership.
As we have for decades, the WHCA stands ready to assist in pool organization, travel planning, and logistical support – and will never stop advocating on behalf of our members. But we cannot faciliate a pool where the President, rather than the press corps and the audience they represent, decides who can and cannot cover him Our work product demands basic guarantees about quality and impartiality, or the pool system does not work. And a pool system where outlets or reporters can be singled out and deprived access over arbitrary complaints related to their independent editorial decisions is inherently flawed.
Daniels also defended the WHCA with the insistence “[w]e have more than 60 news organizations that are a part of our different pools,” which “include those that are strictly nonpartisan and those that lean left or the right” and, throughout it all, “expanded the WHCA’s membership” for “new and emerging media.”
We guess he wants us to feel bad for him as he said “I know this is a very difficult time for all of you” and “[i]t is for me too” because this supposedly apocalyptic change threatens “the highest professional standards” and “accurate, timely and fulsome reports[.]”
In reaction to the letter, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung didn’t mince words: “The head of @WHCA just sent a chilling letter to their members threatening them if they work with the White House’s new expanded press pool system. He then goes on to say any pool reports from all media organizations (NYT, Reuters, NY Post, FOX News) should not be trusted.”
Former CNN media reporter Oliver Darcy melted down in his newsletter-based site, Status:
Can we talk about the utter hypocrisy for a moment? For years, the right has mocked liberals for pushing “safe spaces” and dismissed them as overly sensitive “snowflakes” who get “triggered” too easily. And yet, the Trump White House is actively trying to now construct a government-enforced bubble of protection around the person holding the most powerful office in the world. How does that add up?