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Reporters recently complained about White House staff asking questions early on.
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If you do, the reporters will look along with the administration.
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The White House did not deny the allegation, saying it was a normal part of running a press office.
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On her first day in office, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki pledged to “bring truth and transparency back to the information room” and said she had a “deep respect for the role of a free and independent press.”
But less than two weeks after President Joe Biden’s administration, reporters are raising concerns about White House press staff trying to get them to know in advance the questions they are asking during briefings, reports The Daily Beast.
The question of asking journalists early on to ask their questions is that it may create the impression that the media is working in collaboration with the Biden administration, which gives officials time to give good answers.
Legal critics have accused the media for years of being too left-wing and not critical enough of democratic governments. A recent Fox News report argued that reporters’ questions were too easy during Psaki’s first press briefing, compared to briefings during President Donald Trump’s administration, when White House press secretaries rarely held briefings and often refused to ask questions. to ask.
According to The Daily Beast, reporters reported last Friday during a correspondent association Zoom in the White House that reporters were trying to raise the issue of Psaki’s team to provoke their questions ahead of time.
Several sources told The Daily Beast that WHCA leaders have advised reporters to return or not respond to such requests.
“While it’s a relief to have information sessions return, especially with a commitment to factual information, the press cannot really do their job in the information room if the White House chooses the questions and chooses what they want,” he said. an unnamed White House correspondent said. told The Daily Beast.
“It’s not a free press at all.”
Insider contacted the White House for comment on the report.
The White House press team did not deny the allegation when it was reached for comment by The Daily Beast, but said it was routine work needed to make press briefings effective.
“Our goal is to make the daily information session as useful and informative as possible for both reporters and the public. Part of achieving this goal means that you will be in regular contact with the reporters in the information room to understand how the White House can best help “get them the information they need,” a White House spokesman told The Daily Beast.
“That dialogue is an important part of keeping the American people informed of how the government is serving them.”
Read more: Biden already has a main antagonist. This is Ron DeSantis, the Democrat of the GOP governor in Florida branded as ‘Trump’s commanding son’.
Two people told The Daily Beast that there is a priority for this type of behavior in the Trump administration, while press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders asked certain outlets for questions before major press conferences or events.
And during Bush and Obama reporters, if reporters wanted to interview cabinet ministers, they were asked for the crux of their questions, The Daily Beast said.
Eric Schultz, a deputy press secretary at the Obama White House, defended the practice against The Daily Beast.
“This is textbook communication work. The briefing becomes meaningless if the press secretary has to answer questions repeatedly, instead of being equipped to discuss what journalists are reporting on,” he said.
“In a non-COVID environment, this will occur continuously in the lower and upper press during awkward conversations. One of the few respects of reporters that hovers over your desk all day is that you have a very quick idea. get from what they are working on. “
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Originally published