White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on her first day in office guaranteed to bring “truth and transparency back to the briefing room,” saying she had a “deep respect for the role of a free and independent press.”
But reported on February 1st by the Daily Beast, the White House now wants reporter questions sent in and screened ahead of time before they are traditional asked during the press meetings.
While it’s a relief to see briefings return, particularly with a commitment to factual information, the press can’t really do its job in the briefing room if the White House is picking and choosing the questions they want. That’s not really a free press at all.
Unnamed White House Correspondent
Even Politico, a news outlet that often tends to favor towards the Democratic left, agreed with the Daily Beast.
To everyone asking why this matters: If Psaki doesn’t like your question, she doesn’t call on you.
Tara Palmeri
Eric Schultz, a deputy press secretary in the Obama White House, defended these actions to the Daily Beast.
This is textbook communications work. The briefing becomes meaningless if the press secretary has to repeatedly punt questions, instead of coming equipped to discuss what journalists are reporting on.
In a non-COVID environment, this would happen in casual conversations throughout the day in lower and upper press. One of the few upsides to reporters hovering over your desk all day, is that you get a very quick sense of what they’re working on.
Others that have worked with different administrations have stated this is somewhat common practice, according to evidence provide by Insider.
AUTHOR COMMENTARY
If left-leaning outlets like the Daily Beast and Politico are complaining about the prescreenings, then you know its probably a legitimate accusation.
I am reporting on this as it demonstrates how much the government and medias control the narrative. If reporters ask questions that the Biden administration does not want to answer, they can bypass being tripped up on the spot. They can avoid the tough questions and/or put a prepared spin on the other ones.
This also demonstrates the growing grumblings of many on those that lean towards the left and voted for Biden. Many are starting to realize they have been betrayed for the umpteenth time now, and Biden is on this mad power trip who does not care about helping people. He doesn’t even now what he is signing. He has backed off on some of the core things he promised already, while firing off 30 executive orders in almost one month. The $2,000 stimulus has been reduced to $1,400, and those checks are being dangled like a carrot similar to 2020. Right now we are wasting more taxpayer’s money on trying to impeach Trump – which will more than likely fail, or has no bearing on anything at this point.
When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.
Proverbs 29:2
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