On Feb. 25, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that the Trump administration would be choosing what news outlets are allowed to interview Donald Trump in the White House Press Pool.
The White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) was created in 1914 during the Wilson administration. They work to ensure that independent media outlets maintain the possibility of gaining access to the presidential Press Pool.
The White House Press Pool has been independently chosen by the WHCA since its creation after the presidency of Franklin Roosevelt. It has allowed news organizations and independent journalists to ask questions of their choice face-to-face, rather than wait for a response from the president or their administration.
“For decades a group of D.C.-based journalists, the White House Correspondents’ Association, has long dictated what journalists get to ask questions of the President of the United States — in these most intimate spaces. Not anymore,” Leavitt said in a press statement.
Eugene Daniels, president of WHCA, responded to the decision.
“This move tears at the independence of a free press in the United States,” Daniels said. “In a free country, leaders must not be able to choose their own press corps.”
Daniels went on to criticize the decision made by the White House, stating that they did not warn them of the decision before the press statement.
Other press associations have already responded to the decision. Many news organizations have faced restrictions if they do not legally comply with the executive decisions made by the administration.
The Associated Press is an independent, nonpartisan news organization that began reporting in 1846. They were recently banned from attending events at the White House after their refusal to rename the “Gulf of Mexico” to the “Gulf of America” when reporting on the body of water.
“It is alarming that the Trump administration would punish AP for its independent journalism,” the association said in a statement after announcing the ban. “Limiting our access to the Oval Office based on the content of AP’s speech not only severely impedes the public’s access to independent news, it plainly violates the First Amendment.”
The Associated Press has since filed a lawsuit against three Trump administration officials for an infringement on its freedom of speech.
Oakland University Special Lecturer Kim Madeleine has a life-long experience within the world of journalism on campus and in press associations.
Madeleine discussed how during the Biden administration, right-leaning news outlets were often left ignored by the administration, leading to a lack of representation when requesting important information. But, while he criticizes the bias past administrations had when personally choosing news organizations within the press pool, he does not think this new decision will be beneficial either.
“I understand why they might be doing it, but I still don’t want news organizations out of the room just for spite,” Madeleine said. “I think all organizations should be represented and so in that case, no, I don’t agree with the decision.”
Other press organizations have since filed lawsuits against the decision, as they feel it threatens their freedom of speech.
