White House takes press pool assignment role from correspondents

• The White House announced it will take over assigning reporters to cover pool events with the president. The White House Correspondents’ Association previously held the role. The move has sparked concerns about press independence.

• The new policy allows White House officials to decide which media members can attend certain events and ask questions. The White House will still allow legacy media outlets to join and offer streaming services.

• The WHCA criticized the move. They said it undermines press independence and suggests government control over which journalists cover the president. The WHCA signaled it as a threat to the freedom of the press.

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The White House on Tuesday, Feb. 25, announced it is taking over what reporters would be assigned to cover pool events with the president. Previously, that responsibility fell on the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA), which said the move “tears at the independence of the free press.” 

The move comes after years of perceived favoritism by former President Joe Biden’s press team and sometimes-telegraphed questions from reporters.

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The policy change means White House officials will decide which media members can attend events in locations like the Oval Office that cannot accommodate all members of the press and, most importantly, allow the reporters to ask questions at those events.

“For decades, a group of D.C.-based journalists, the White House Correspondents’ Association, has long dictated which journalists get to ask questions of the president of the United States in these most intimate spaces. Not anymore,” said Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.

She added that legacy media outlets that have participated in the White House press pool can still join, but the White House press team will also offer streaming services.

The WHCA responded in a statement, saying they already rotate pool assignments to ensure including new and emerging outlets. 

“This move tears at the independence of a free press in the United States,” said WHCA President Eugene Daniels. “It suggests the government will choose the journalists who cover the president. In a free country, leaders should not be able to choose their own press corps.” 

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The WHCA took a “noncommittal stance” on Biden’s removal of 442 accredited White House reporters when his press team changed the credential process in May 2023. The White House press corps was criticized in April 2023 when photographers captured a White House staff member with printouts of a pre-written question that a reporter was going to ask Biden during a news conference in the Rose Garden.