#access journalism

Dean Obeidallah at The Dean's Report:

We saw Donald Trump on Friday--and again yesterday--personally smear and berate female reporters for simply during their jobs. That was despicable. But what we also saw was that not one member of the corporate media at those events stood up for these reporters. And that is both inexcusable and tells you so much about the horrible state of corporate media. On Friday, Bloomberg reporter Catherine Lucey took the opportunity during an Air Force One flight to push Trump on his long relationship with convicted child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Lucey asked, “Mr. President. What did Jeffrey Epstein mean in his emails when he said, ‘you knew about the girls?’” Trump dismissed the question, claiming he knows “nothing about that,” but then went on to list Democrats whose names appeared in other Epstein emails. Lucey then asked, “If there is nothing incriminating in the files…” Trump angrily interrupted her, leaned in while pointing his finger in her face. That is when Trump despicably barked, “Quiet. Quiet, piggy.” In a sea of vile and despicable actions by Trump, this was especially jarring. Trump had the female reporter cornered in the tight space of the plane as he menacingly mocked her. For me at least, Trump’s threatening conduct conjured up Trump’s history of being an adjudicated a rapist, of bragging about grabbing women by the genitals without their consent and the allegations by so many women of Trump’s sexual misconduct.

Then just days later, Trump again angrily berated a female reporter. This time it was Mary Bruce, ABC News’s chief White House correspondent. This incident was equally disturbing in that it occurred when Trump was sitting next to Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman—a man who US intelligence determined was responsible for ordering the killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi for being critical of the Saudi regime.

Bruce first asked about Trump’s family profiting off business deals with the Saudi government while he is President. She also touched on the killing of Khashoggi. Before Bruce could complete the question, however, Trump repeatedly asked, “Who are you with?” When she responded, “I’m with ABC News, sir,” he called it “fake news” and “one of the worst in the business.” From there Trump defended the murder of Khashoggi as “things happen.” When Bruce later asked Trump why he wouldn’t simply release the Jeffrey Epstein files on his own, Trump launched into an angry stream of personal attacks on Bruce. Trump bellowed, “I think you are a terrible reporter. It’s the way you ask these questions. You start off with a man who is highly respected asking him a horrible insubordinate and just a terrible question and you could even ask that same exact question nicely.” He soon added, “you’re a terrible person and a terrible reporter.”

Clearly triggered, Trump then threatened to strip ABC of its broadcast license because of Bruce’s questions, declaring “I think the license should be taken away from ABC because your news is so fake and it’s so wrong.” He then directed his FCC chair Brendan Carr--who was the one that pressured ABC to suspend Jimmy Kimmel--to take action, stating, “And we have a great commissioner, the chairman, who should look at that.” These incidents have two things common. First, it’s yet another reminder of Trump’s contempt for both the First Amendment and for women. Second, the painful silence of fellow journalists to push back on Trump reminds of the corruption of corporate media. Sure, after the incidents, we saw a handful of corporate media journalists take to social media to defend the reporters. For example, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins wrote, “My colleagues in the White House press corps, @marykbruce and @catherine_lucey, both do a great job.” And CNBC’s Carl Quintanilla wrote that Trump’s response to Bruce explained “everything about how Trump sees press freedom.” [...]

Every White House reporter and their bosses are aware of what that ruling means as a practical matter. If you anger Trump by standing up to him or pressing too hard, you and your media outlet will lose access. And to corporate media journalists, access is the equivalent of blood for a vampire. Without it, they are done. Interestingly, some corporate media reporters in the time of Trump have actually bandied together to take a stand to protect freedom of the press. We saw an example just last month when Trump’s Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth demanded that journalists covering the Pentagon agree to new rules that would subject journalists to expulsion if they sought to report on information that had not been approved by Hegseth for release. In response, dozens of reporters turned in access badges and exited the Pentagon in protest.

Remember what CBS’s former CEO, Les Moonves, said about giving Trump billions in free airtime?

It’s happening all over again.

CNN is enabling Trump today, and tomorrow they’ll pretend they were always fighting against him.

If selling out America to a rapist traitor who sold secrets to Russia makes them richer, CNN does not give a single fuck.

Kevin Robillard at HuffPost:

Donald Trump’s White House kicked a HuffPost reporter out of the pool of journalists set to follow the president on Wednesday, breaking with decades of precedent, and insisting they have the ability to pick and choose which reporters cover the president. The White House also kicked the Reuters wire service out of its spot in the pool for Wednesday, escalating a fight which began after the White House insisted The Associated Press comply with Trump’s decision to arbitrarily rename the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America.” The moves fit in with the increasingly authoritarian nature of Trump’s second term, which has seen him deploy the federal government to go after his critics and political enemies, and work to expand the powers of the executive branch to unprecedented levels. “HuffPost condemns this egregious violation of the First Amendment. Americans deserve fair and honest reporting on their president,” HuffPost editor-in-chief Whitney Snyder said. “The White House must stop this cowardly behavior and restore HuffPost’s place in the press pool immediately.” HuffPost White House reporter S.V. Dáte, who questioned Trump on Air Force One earlier this month, was set to fill the spot typically reserved for a print reporter in the pool, which tracks the president throughout the day and sends updates to the broader group of reporters who cover the president. For decades, the White House Correspondents’ Association has determined the rotation of reporters who fill spots dedicated for radio, television, print and wire service reporters. But after 10 p.m. on Tuesday night, the White House informed Date there was “no room” for him in the pool. A reporter from Axios, a digital publication famous for its extreme commitment to brevity, is instead serving as the print pooler. There is also only one wire service in the pool instead of the typical three, while spots were handed to Newsmax and The Blaze, two right-wing outlets. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, a failed congressional candidate, announced the White House was taking control of the pool during Tuesday’s press briefing, saying it needed to ensure access to new news outlets.

Tyrant 47’s White House has bumped HuffPost and Reuters from the White House Press Pool in favor of right-wing state propaganda organs Newsmax and TheBlaze and access journalist purveyors Axios.

Brian Karem at Brian Karem Reporter's Notebook:

It is the last nail in the coffin for free speech. The President of the United States seized control of the press pool Tuesday that gets exclusive access to him and declared he alone gets the right to decide who covers him. Under the guise of destroying a monopoly of access controlled by the White House Correspondents Association (run by press organizations which cover the president) Trump seized control of the monopoly himself. His Pep Secretary announced that it was a move made to protect free speech. Karoline Leavitt asserted that the WHCA “should no longer have a monopoly” on organizing press pools and that the White House would determine the makeup of the pool on a day-to-day basis. “All journalists, outlets and voices deserve a seat at this highly coveted table,” the Pep Secretary said. Imagine the blowback if any other president proposed such a move. While the Pep Secretary is correct about more journalists needing to get access, she is very wrong in stating that the President is the guy to pick and choose. It is problematic on many levels. “I don’t like the coverage, so I’m going to pick who asks me questions,” is the mark of a tyrant not a free speech advocate. And if we get down into the weeds a bit, the journalistic organizations with the most readers, viewers and listeners are those who need access in order to facilitate greater access to the president for the public. If the president really cared about creating access, instead of controlling who gets to serve in the press pool, he could just show up in the briefing room once a month and talk to everyone there. If he wants to “diss” the pool, he could simply call on anyone not in the first two rows. That would certainly make his point while at the same time preserving free speech. But Trump isn’t about that. He’s about control Eugene Daniels, WHCA president, says the White House move to determine who is in the press pool (instead of the WHCA, which has done so for decades) "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."

[...] Still, in defense of the WHCA, it has a long history of trying to include emerging technology and companies into the pool rotation. When I first got to the White House CNN wasn’t a part of the pool. It is now. And Trump’s decision is highly problematic. While it is easier, as I’ve pointed out before, to replace the local pool, the travel pool is a different story. Trump will put anyone he wants in the local pool, and eventually the Brady Briefing room - if the courts allow it. But replacing those organizations that travel with the president can only be done on a “pay to play” basis. Every organization on the travel pool pays for its spot on AF1, it’s meals and its lodging. Unless Trump wants to pay his favorite organizations to cover him (which is a possibility) the chances are slim that some of the smaller, more questionable outlets will be able to travel with the president.

Today, White House's propagandist bobblehead Karoline Leavitt announced that the White House's press team will take over the selection process of which outlets and who get to cover the "President" on Air Force One, White House grounds, and in the Oval Office in an attack on the free press. The White House Correspondents Association (WHCA) previous ran the process of who got to be in the press pool.

This move reeks of pure authoritarianism, as it would reward pro-47 sycophants and freeze out those critical of him and his twisted agenda.

See Also:

PoliticusUSA: Trump Moves To Destroy The Free Press By Handpicking Who Will Get To Cover Him

The Parnas Perspective (Aaron Parnas): The White House’s Unprecedented Attack on the Press and the Rising Threat to Journalism

The Guardian: White House says it will decide which news outlets cover Trump

The New Republic: Trump Press Secretary Announces Terrifying Change to White House Press

We hear each week that the talks are at risk of “collapsing” or that the “fragile truce” is at risk. Bunk. Iran, with Oman’s aid, is systematically asserting long-term control of the Strait. Trump has zero interest in returning to full-scale hostilities; the economic sanctions that have constrained Iran are already being unwound; and the entire topic is a political loser for Trump. As oil prices gradually drift downward, Trump is less inclined to restart major military operations. The war is over, as both sides know. The memorandum talks are merely the means of tallying the cost to U.S.’s international standing. Given all this, much of the Iran coverage has taken on an air of unreality. The Trump regime pretends to be engaged in grown-up statecraft; legacy media coverage regurgitates the Trump team’s assertions that Iran is desperate for a deal. The headlines take at face value the threat that the U.S. would resume a full-scale fight; but no one engaged in the talks believes that is remotely possible. Rather than frame the news of the day around what the Trump regime is saying about events (Trump ready to destroy Iran again!), coverage of the talks should lay out the facts to educate the public about the new balance of power (Iran using muscle to extract economic benefits from Strait of Hormuz).

You'd think so, but remember...

It’s a perversion of journalism in service of propaganda.

There’s really no reason for reporter ride-alongs unless it’s for show to whip up and normalize “havoc” and turn violent raids into live streamed entertainment, a sort of bread and circus to appease certain crowds because we know a lot of the policies aren’t going to pan out to please most ordinary people.

PayDay Report – FOX News “Embeds” with ICE – Chicago Educators Deny ICE Entry – Trump Orders Fed Employees to Snitch on Covert DEI – Mike Elk Jan 25, 2025 Fox News “Embedded” with ICE on Immigration Raid in Boston As ICE targeted immigrants, Fox News was allowed to embed with immigration raids in the Boston area. The arrests were later broadcast on Fox News. While ICE does not have the resources to target immigrants at the level that many anti-immigrant groups desire, the video of the arrests has spread mass panic in immigrant communities, causing many immigrants to miss work and pay. “I worry that a lot of families will be retreating, will be very cautious about so many different public spaces, to their detriment, and really to all of our detriment,” Elizabeth Sweet, the Director of the MIRA Coalition, told WBZ.

Punitive right-wing TV personality Phil McGraw is doing ride-alongs now with the mass deportation squads. This isn’t access journalism, it’s access influencering I guess.

Dr. Phil GOES ON ICE MASS DEPORTATION RAID & Brags About His “High-Risk Mission!!!” Jesse Dollemore Jan 27, 2025

This is not new, of course. Over a decade ago there was an article in Pennsylvania that I thought was outrageous. It painted large warrant sweep raids as something exciting and positive, and that “wreaking havoc” in neighborhoods was some kind of good thing.

PennLive – ‘We’re going to be wreaking havoc,’ unit leader says of massive warrant sweep in Harrisburg – Updated: Nov. 14, 2014, 4:09 p.m. | Published: Nov. 14, 2014, 3:09 p.m. “Freer hits the gas and takes a sharp left turn on North Summit Street. Within the blink of an eye, half a dozen police vehicles descend upon this tiny, one-way road and Freer’s agents and Harrisburg police officers pour out into the street. It takes the group only a few seconds to corral 20-year-old Deandre Thomas — clad in a pair of Batman slippers and a ragged Notre Dame T-shirt — near a marked “drug free” playground at the end of the block.”

At the time, I wrote to my reps to complain about this, pointing out how the article was glorifying violence and gleeful about roughing up neighborhoods creating “havoc” when surely police are supposed to keep the peace? The photojournalism and the mug shots included struck me as having a distinct slant, or perhaps that the operation itself was biased. A lot of the wording and descriptions were dehumanizing or at least tinged with a sense of disgust. Corral for instance is a word used with livestock.

I wrote these things to Governor Wolf. That “wreaking havoc” article came out in November 2014 just after Governor Tom Wolf was elected. I wrote mainly to register my dissent and disgust about state police doing puff pieces glorifying drug war operations that just further harm society and don’t do anything to help people in the grip of addiction. I don’t know how many people who would’ve objected even noticed that article, but I didn’t want it to go unremarked.

The author of the PennLive police raid ride-along narrative was a reporter named Jeffrey A. Johnson. In March 2015 he was hired as the Deputy Press Secretary for the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General. (Jeffrey Johnson was listed in the PA Employee Salaries database “As of 03/15/2015” with the title “Assistant Press Secretary 2” and this job is listed on Jeffrey Johnson’s Linkedin.)

This was during the time Kathleen Kane from Lackawanna County, was Pennsylvania AG. Kane was by this point already embroiled in a scandal since March 2014 that wound up eventually resulting in Kane resigning as AG in 2016 after being convicted of actual crimes. Kane spent time in prison and was disbarred, and the public narrative on this was that she had played partisan favouritism to protect Democratic Party politicians involved in some kind of corruption in Philadelphia, which of course was fodder for a lot of conspiracy theories and partisan intrigue from every direction for a few years. A side note is that Bruce Castor served as acting PA AG for 2 weeks in 2016 before Governor Tom Wolf appointed Bruce Beemer until the next election, but in reality Castor had been considered the “de facto attorney general” in a newly created position of “Solicitor General” for several months because Kathleen Kane needed to hire him to do the legal stuff for the position because she had her license suspended at that time by the PA Supreme Court. Bruce Castor was later part of the defense team in the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump.

According to Jeffrey Johnson’s Linkedin, (which states he’s “skilled in media relations, storytelling, social media, news writing and editing”), Johnson worked as the Deputy Press Secretary at the PA Office of AG until June 2017, when Josh Shapiro was the PA AG – until he became the governor of Pennsylvania. In September 2017 Jeffrey Johnson became the Communications Director at the PA Department of Revenue and he’s had the job title of Communications Director 3 for the past 7+ years. (The Linkedin dates match the dates in the PA Employee Salaries database.)