Over the past year, many sensible, intelligent people simply began to tune out the news. There was a bump with the 2024 election, but newspapers, cable news and network news were completely unprepared for the steep drop-off in readership and viewership post-election. That’s why cable news networks have been dropping their on-air talent like flies, and that’s why there have been layoffs at most American newspapers. They all thought it was going to be like 2016/17 all over again, where people believed that they were fighting in the Resistance by supporting the media. In the years since, people watched as too many in the media normalized Donald Trump and completely failed to keep the public informed and educated about what was really happening across the board. The media cast their votes for chaos, then enabled everything that’s happening now, and from where I sit, few American journalists are respected or sympathetic in the MAGA Era. Well, now the Trump administration is changing the rules about which outlets are allowed in the media “pools,” the limited sprays allowed in the Oval Office or in more close quarters. The AP is suing over part of this too.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the White House would now determine which outlets will be members of the press pool, the smaller group of journalists who are allowed into events in the Oval Office or travel with the president on Air Force One.
For decades, the White House Correspondents’ Association has handled the logistics of the press pool, including determining which outlets will be assigned for duty and when they will participate. The set up designed to prevent an administration from retaliating against journalists whose coverage they disfavor. At the briefing, Leavitt said that the change would open up the pool to a greater number of news outlets.
“Legacy outlets who have participated in the press pool for decades will still be allowed to join, but we will also be offering the privilege to well-deserving outlets who have never been allowed to share in this awesome responsibility,” she said.She said that they will continue the rotation among the five major television networks “to ensure the president’s remarks are heard far and wide around this world.” Speaking to reporters later today, Trump said, “We’re going to be calling those shots.”
But Eugene Daniels, the president of the WHCA, said that the move “tears at the independence of a free press in the United States. It suggests the government will choose the journalists who cover the president. In a free country, leaders must not be able to choose their own press corps.”
Other members of the press corps also criticized the move. Jacqui Heinrich, senior White House correspondent for Fox News, challenged Leavitt’s claim that the change gives “power back to the people. This move does not give the power back to the people – it gives power to the White House,” Heinrich wrote on X. “The WHCA is democratically elected by the full-time White House press corps. WHCA has determined pools for decades because only representatives FROM our outlets can determine resources all those outlets have – such as staffing – in order to get the President’s message out to the largest possible audience, no matter the day or hour.”
I was done with the White House Press corps when they pulled all of those shenanigans with President Biden last summer. There were WH press corps posting selfies from Biden’s press conferences and joking about taking bets as to when he would announce his retirement. Few of these people get any sympathy from me. I get why this is bad and of course I think it’s completely ludicrous that the White House is going to hand-pick their favored wingnut press outlets to embiggen Dear Leader. Too many of these journalists and media outlets thought they would get a ratings bonanza if he was reelected, so they did everything to enable that outcome. Elect a clown, expect a circus. This is the result of years of asinine political theater, enabled by those same journalists, and we’re again paying the price.
In case you think I’m being too harsh on the WH press corps, this was their reaction following the first week of the second Trump administration. They were so bored of President Biden’s competence and lack of drama.
“We’re so back” one reporter whispered to another
“Biden was boring!”
Oh well. Enjoy
https://t.co/MAS3IimW0I pic.twitter.com/CccQ2UNeEp
— T. Fisher King (@T_FisherKing) February 25, 2025
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
