The Biden White House is imposing press room rules that will rob a key conservative news outlet of its ability to freely cover the West Wing.
The Daily Signal, an online site backed by the Heritage Foundation that has 2.5 million monthly readers, will lose its daily “hard pass,” both a status symbol in media circles and the requirement to come and go freely to the West Wing press room where daily briefings are held.
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“I have covered the Obama and the Trump administrations and have not seen a press purge like this, and it should be concerning to anyone when an administration attempts to select who can and can't cover it,” said Daily Signal White House Correspondent Fred Lucas.
Rob Bluey, the Daily Signal’s executive editor, bluntly headlined his story about the controversy, “Biden Boots Daily Signal Reporter From White House Press Briefings.”
The White House is making it harder for reporters to cover the so-called most “open and transparent administration in history.” If this happened under the prior administration, the media would be screaming censorship. Today, there’s not a peep. Shameful. https://t.co/lt4Oxb6cKE
— Kevin Roberts (@KevinRobertsTX) July 18, 2023
Several other media outlets are also losing their passes under the rules, though it isn’t clear which yet. Notably, Simon Ateba, the White House correspondent for Today News Africa, is also likely to lose his pass because he spars with White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
At issue is the administration’s move to require all correspondents to reapply for passes. Included in the rules is a requirement that they also have another federal pass, such as a congressional or Supreme Court press pass. Those can also be hard to get and are often kept from non-traditional news outlets like the Daily Signal, which doesn’t qualify for one under old rules.
Shouldn’t every journalist be outraged about this?
— House Judiciary GOP 🇺🇸 (@JudiciaryGOP) July 19, 2023
Pretty telling if they aren’t. https://t.co/IdDTdBTRaV
The rules also require reporters to behave in a way that some claim bars them from barking out questions or being overly aggressive when stonewalled by officials.
The Obama White House used similar tactics to weed out reporters. The Obama-Biden White House was sharply criticized by media experts for disregarding the First Amendment with its press policies.
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“Under the new policy, there is zero transparency from the White House as to how many journalists are losing their hard passes. Moreover, the administration has never articulated a justification for purging media they deem non-compliant,” said Lucas, who has had a hard pass since 2009.
Presumably, the White House will continue with past policies of forcing non-pass-holding reporters to call for approval to enter to cover daily briefings and other events open to pass holders.