From now on, it will be the Executive to select members of the small group of journalists, photographers and chamber operators who accompany state presidents at their events and transmit information to thousands of other interested journalists.
The White House announced this Tuesday new rules for the media, deciding that journalists can ask questions to US President Donald Trump, a task that has so far been exclusively to .
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt announced at a press conference that from now on Executive to select members of the small group of journalists, photographers and chamber operators who accompany state presidents at their events and transmit information to thousands of other interested journalists.
“From now on, the White House press team will determine who is part of the” pool “of the press,” said Karoline Leavitt.
White House decision ends up with a tradition of almost a century
For almost a century, tradition in the White House has been a ‘pool’ of journalists to cover the president’s agendasince there is not enough room for hundreds of journalists who want to follow their events in the oval room, in other rooms where they speak or even on the Air Force One presidential plane.
The selection of journalists with access to this ‘pool’ is traditionally Responsibility of White House Correspondents Association (WHCA)founded in 1914 by journalists, in response to an unfounded rumor that a Congress commission wanted to decide which reporters could attend the then President’s press conferences, Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921).
WHCA’s work has been defend greater access to hundreds of journalists who cover the White Housein the face of attempts by various governments to restrict it.
In addition, it selects, through a strict processthe members of the ‘pool’ that are authorized to attend presidential events and they act like the eyes and ears of the other journalists.
The group of journalists accompanying the president is usually composed of 13 to 14 peoplealthough in some cases it can reach 20. Within this group, there are journalists, designated as ‘poolers’, for different media: One for the written press, one for the radio and others for television.
The details of the changes announced by the White House They are yet to define And it is unknown how they will be put into practice.
‘Sanctions’ for not renamed Gulf of America
This announcement occurs in a context of Trump’s confrontation with the US news agency, to which the government restricted access to ‘pool’, preventing it from asking Trump, due to its decision to Continue to call Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of Mexicoinstead of adopting the nomenclature decided by the head of state, “Gulf of America”.
However, a judge decided on Monday that the Government may continue to veto access to the news agencyalthough I asked him to reconsider his decision.
