The White House appears to have barred the New York Times and other news organizations from a regular press briefing12. This is highly unusual and is seen as a challenge to freedom of speech.
Those excluded included CNN, the BBC, the New York Times, the LA Times, BuzzFeed News, and Politico. Taking the situation seriously, reporters from the AP and Time magazine also declined to attend the briefing. A Wall Street Journal reporter attended without knowing that this was happening, but the organization says it will decline to attend in the future.
Some conservative media organizations that were admitted apparently welcomed the restriction. As one might expect from people who wave Russian flags during a presidential speech.
[Reference: Trump supporters waving Russian flags marked “TRUMP”]
One encouraging point is that Bret Baier, an anchor at Fox News, a leading conservative outlet, has spoken against the trend: “When the Obama administration tried to exclude Fox News from press briefings in 2009, CNN, the New York Times, and others now denied access stood with us. White House briefings must always be open to news organizations.”
A static quotation is not available for this X post.
I pray that the great America that guards freedom will not be lost.
Footnotes
- https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/24/us/politics/white-house-sean-spicer-briefing.html?mwrsm=Facebook&_r=0
- http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/white-house-blocks-news-outlets-from-media-briefing-a7598641.html
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