Axios reported on Sunday that the White House is planning to take control of the seating chart for reporters in the briefing room, which has historically been up to the reporters themselves. It is the latest in a series of moves taken by the Trump administration seeking more control over the people and institutions that cover it. An unnamed senior White House official told the outlet of their plans for a “fundamental restructuring of the briefing room, based on metrics more reflective of how media is consumed today.”
Access to the briefing room is a crucial avenue for obtaining up-to-date information from the administration through the press secretary, and provides an important opportunity to question them on the administration‘s stated policies and actions. Across presidential administrations, interactions between the press secretary and reporters in this context are usually the first and most direct way that the American public is informed about White House policy. That access has traditionally been decided by the White House Correspondents Association.
One key novelty in the White House’s plans, according to Axios’ source, is the inclusion of influencers in the press pool. “Influencers are important but it’s tough because they aren’t [equipped to provide] consistent coverage. So the ability to cover the White House is part of the metrics,” the official said. “We want to balance disruption with responsibility.” One of the digital media outlets that has already joined the press rotation is Tim Pool, a right-wing YouTuber who accepted millions of dollars from a fictitious donor that turned out to be a front for the Russian government.
The move follows a number of other changes instituted by the Trump administration that minimize the autonomy of the WHCA. On February 26, The WHCA announced that it would cede control of pool reports to the president, meaning that it would no longer manage the rotation of reporters from the 60 news organizations it represents to attend White House events. The move came after the Trump administration denied the Associated Press, Reuters and Huffpost access to Trump’s first cabinet meeting. Compiled reports from these pools, which are then shared widely for other journalists not on scene, would also be under White House control. “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,” said WHCA President and POLITICO journalist Eugene Daniels.
The WHCA also announced on Saturday that it has canceled comedienne Amber Ruffin’s upcoming appearance at the WHCA Dinner on April 26th, which is known as a sort of roast sessions for both the press and the president. Donald Trump skipped every one of the yearly events during his first term.
