White House Press Corps, the lapdogs for Democrat administrations and self-appointed “gotcha gurus” when it is a Republican Administration, has now decided to create a set of written rules regarding press conduct. New rules allow for a reporter’s removal from a briefing when they act “unprofessionally.”
Former President Donald Trump, well aware of the mission of the White House Press Corps, has also thrown several members of press, including CNN’s Jim Acosta, and Salon.com Brian Karem, at various times. Simon Ateba, Today News Africa’s correspondent in Africa, is the best person to know that there’s a “teachers’ pet” system within the briefing room. Ateba believes that the new rules could have something to do him. Ateba stated in March that White House Press secretary Karine Jean Pierre had not asked him a question for seven months. He has also been known to ask Jean-Pierre questions out of order, violating unwritten decorum rules. Is the White House interested in a code or is it just groupthink?
Reporters and journalists are issued “hard passes” by the White House. The new rules, they say, will help those who already hold passes. They claim that 40% of those with hard passes haven’t used them in 90 days. Recently, the White House released a statement regarding press passes:
The White House expects all hard pass holders to act professionally while on White House grounds. This includes respecting colleagues, White House staff, and guests, observing restrictions on accessing areas of the White House, or credentialed event, and not interfering with events or briefings at campus.
Repeat offenders may be banned or suspended. The White House may claim that it is not looking to eliminate “adversarial” journalism, such as Ateba, or journalists who ask difficult questions or those the administration does not like, but this is the group who believed they could get by with a “Disinformation Governance Board”. So, why would we think this was just another attempt to remove journalists from media outlets which the administration might dislike? The New York Post has been banned from attending a recent White House event where President Joe Biden was present. The New York Post, you know, is the one that reported on First Son Hunter Biden’s laptop extensively.
The new standards include a number of other requirements in addition to the personal behavior. Hard pass holders are required to have a full-time job with a media outlet that reports news. They must also live in Washington D.C., or an area nearby. Is the White House helping its mainstream media stenographers to ignore the rapid changes in journalism by issuing these standards? Many seasoned journalists have also left traditional news outlets and joined independent journalism at Substack and other places. These journalists could be considered citizen journalists. White House reporters have expressed concern that such credential rules may discriminate against independent journalists. However, they also noted that these journalists can still gain access to the White House with a day pass.
Current hard passes expire July 31. Journalists must apply for a credential that is valid for one year, also known as the groupthink gold stars.
