Originally published at: White House Limits Media Access to West Wing Offices in Latest Indignity for the Trump Press Corps - TPM – Talking Points Memo
On Friday evening, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung and Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt sent out a memo announcing a new restriction on press access in the West Wing. According to the memo, members of the White House press corps will now be restricted from accessing the area known as “upper press” without an appointment. …
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No reporter is ever going to learn anything true or useful from being inside the White House. Repeating propaganda is not reporting.
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Thank goodness Trump is “the most transparent president ever” or this could be a serious problem.
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Exactly! And it makes one wonder why they all clamor so hard for that “White House Press Pass” so they get the lies and spin from the horse’s – er, mouth. Is it just so they’ll be invited to the big annual party and roast, or what?
Editors should note: if your reporters don’t get the stenographed “story” from the White House, Pentagon, or whatever – then maybe you are not required to print the Maladministration line. Maybe you can report the reality.
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the new limits would “ensure adherence to best practices pertaining to access to sensitive material.”
Because they’re so careful about that.
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Well, as Donnie drools and Stevie screams, better to limit access. Who knows what ad hoc thing might be seen and reported if access was much easier. Waiting for no photos except those from the official White House media division. Autographed photos will begin at 500 a pop.
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Hmmm…here’s a thought; report on what they do, not what they say.
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If they want the press to “follow best practices” for sensitive information, they should have told them to take them home and store them in their bathrooms!!! These are despicable people….asswipes for Trump and nothing more!
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Isn’t this what happened at the Pentagon? How’s that working for anyone?
Given that there are few true journalists out there, I am not sure the damage being done. We don’t need stenographers. We need journalists.
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Fear of a free press showing what Trump and friends are planning is the cause of these limits.
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You crazy communist!! 
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Batten down the hatches.
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Never heard of this ‘lower’ vs ‘upper’ – is this recent? Regardless the imposition and enforcement of hierarchy is normally associated with authoritarianism.
Do agree with the sense of comments thus far: not much to be gained by access in a house of lies and something definitely lost in repeating what is acquired, at least w/o extensive corroboration by more trustworthy sources.
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What they are doing not just planning.
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“Beltway bling” in the form of high-status passes and access badges has long been a D.C. status symbol. Old habits die hard.
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Well, at least they’re not actually shooting journalists, like they’ve been doing in Israel. Yet.
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There was a time when trump was a registered democrat.. bet he’d deny it.
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All that butt-kissing for naught. LOL
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Lawrence O’Donnell has had some choice words for the White House (WH) Press Corp. Sounds like he and Trump agree on maybe one thing - the WH Press are close to useless.
Reporters should report on what the Trump people DO. What the Trump people SAY are lies - damn lies, and everyone knows it. Reporting the WH lies is not doing the public any good.
The real journalists should take a very aggressive tone with this WH and damn the consequences. Access does not and has not provided any “scoops” in years. Scoops come from unauthorized sources FAR from the WH itself. For instance, where was the scoop about tearing down the entire East Wing of the WH ? Certainly not from the WH Press Corp.
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