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White House bars major news outlets from gaggle: image via AP Images @AP_Images, 24 February 2016
White House bars major news outlets from informal briefing: AP Top News, 24 February 2017
News organizations including The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, CNN and Politico were blocked from joining an informal, on-the-record White House press briefing Friday.
The Associated Press chose not to participate in the briefing after
White House press secretary Sean Spicer restricted the number of
journalists included. Typically, the daily briefing is televised and
open to all news organizations credentialed to cover the White House.
"The AP believes the public should have as much access to the
president as possible," Lauren Easton, the AP's director of media
relations, said in a statement.
On Friday, hours after President Donald Trump delivered a speech
blasting the media, Spicer invited only a pool of news organizations
that represents and shares reporting with the larger press corps. He
also invited several other major news outlets, as well as smaller
organizations including the conservative Washington Times, One America
News Network and Breitbart News, whose former executive chairman, Steve
Bannon, is Trump's chief strategist. When the additional news
organizations attempted to gain access, they weren't allowed to enter.
The White House said it felt "everyone was represented" by those in the pool and the invited organizations.
"We decided to add a couple of additional people beyond the pool.
Nothing more than that," said White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders.
When asked by a reporter attending whether he was playing favorites,
Spicer said the White House had "shown an abundance of accessibility,"
according to an audio recording of the briefing later circulated by the
pool.
The pool included Reuters, Bloomberg, CBS, Hearst Newspapers and CBS
Radio. Others in the briefing were Fox, NBC and ABC. Bloomberg reported
that its reporter was unaware of the exclusions until after the
briefing.
John Roberts, Fox's chief White House correspondent, told anchor
Shepard Smith on the air Friday that Fox supports complaints being filed
by the White House Correspondents Association and pool TV networks.
"You can speculate, Shep, that there might be some extenuating
circumstances as to why those people were not invited, we're going to
look into that further...." Roberts said.
In a statement, the correspondent association's president, Jeff
Mason, said the group was "protesting strongly" against how the briefing
was handled by the White House.
CBS News said in a statement that it was the pool's radio and TV outlet Friday.
"We recorded audio of this event and quickly shared it out of an
obligation to protect the interests of all pool members," the news
division said.
When Spicer was asked by a reporter at the briefing whether he was
playing favorites, he said he "disagreed with the premise of the
question," according to the audio.
"We've brought more reporters into this process. And the idea that
every time that every single person can't get their question answered or
fit in a room that we're excluding people. We've actually gone above
and beyond with making ourselves, our team, and our briefing room more
accessible than probably any prior administration. And so I think you
can take that to the bank.
"We do what we can to accommodate the press. I think we've gone above
and beyond when it comes to accessibility, and openness and getting
folks — our officials, our team."
During a panel discussion last December, Spicer said that open access
for the media is "what makes a democracy a democracy versus a
dictatorship."
Reaction to Friday's events from the barred outlets and others was swift.
Davan Maharaj, editor-in-chief and publisher of the Los Angeles Times, called the newspaper's exclusion "unfortunate."
"The public has a right to know, and that means being informed by a
variety of news sources, not just those filtered by the White House
press office in hopes of getting friendly coverage," Maharaj said in a
statement. "Regardless of access, the Times will continue to report on
the Trump administration without fear or favor."
Dean Baquet, executive editor of The New York Times, said that
"nothing like this has ever happened at the White House in our long
history of covering multiple administrations of different parties. We
strongly protest the exclusion of The New York Times and the other news
organizations. Free media access to a transparent government is
obviously of crucial national interest."
CNN's Jake Tapper took aim at the White House as he kicked off "The Lead with Jake Tapper" hours after the briefing.
"A White House that has had some difficulty telling the truth and
that has seemed to have trouble getting up to speed on the basic
competent functioning of government, and a president who seems
particularly averse to any criticism and has called the press the
enemies of the American people — they're taking the next step in
attempting to avoid checks and balances and accountability.
"It's not acceptable. In fact, it's petulant, and indicative of a
lack of basic understanding of how an adult White House functions,"
Tapper said.
The Committee to Protect Journalists also condemned the move by the White House.
"We are concerned by the decision to bar reporters from a press
secretary briefing," CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon said in a
statement. "The U.S. should be promoting press freedom and access to
information."
Barbershop
So We Turned Round And Drove All the Way Home
counting
the Burma
Shave signs
from the back seat, from Iowa
on east, running
the numbers
of out of state
license plates
through the exoterica
filter. In that car
the back seat was the family gaggle.
The gaggle in that/
any town USA back
then, was the local barbershop,
where a kid with big ears learnt
the adult
world.
There were many
barbershops, even one to every urban
neighborhood, so that
it was just
round the corner
near Madison Street
where I learnt
what happened in
the cigar factories
of Havana, a faraway city
where I could never go.
"They played Don Quijote
over
and over
on a loudspeaker
as we
rolled. I still know
that whole book by heart!"
An immigrant, though I only
say that
now. Then I thought
tall elegant barber
with mysterious
sense of humor.
On the window a sign
I passed very day yet could not figure
out
for a long time
read
WE'D LIKE TO CU
BA
CUSTOMER OF OURS.
My grandfather
was a always a big enjoyer
of the barber shop gaggle.
Different
larger down town barber
shop, for him. When I was ten
we drove 2500 miles
and waited in the car
while he went in to a barbershop
in boiling Hemet
and came out steaming
having picked up from the gaggle
the news his old pal H
whom he'd driven all that way
to see
had become a Mason.
A gentle man, but the challenge
of the alien -- another recollection, roadside
café in California
desert
near Indio, where
that bad
barbeque in the road
house
made everybody sick
and it was 110 degrees
in the non
existent shade -- the gas
station beyond, where anger over
the overcharge
of a dollar
caused him to refer
to the attendant as a
mex
in speaking over the front seat
to my grandmother
and their daughter my aunt
without taking his eyes off
the shimmering
heat mirage highway
(... eavesdropping on the gaggle
again
... my continuing education).
A gentle man, but the challenge
of the alien -- another recollection, roadside
café in California
desert
near Indio, where
that bad
barbeque in the road
house
made everybody sick
and it was 110 degrees
in the non
existent shade -- the gas
station beyond, where anger over
the overcharge
of a dollar
caused him to refer
to the attendant as a
mex
in speaking over the front seat
to my grandmother
and their daughter my aunt
without taking his eyes off
the shimmering
heat mirage highway
(... eavesdropping on the gaggle
again
... my continuing education).
Luis Rosskam, street scene in Washington, D.C., winter of 1941-42 [Farm Security Administration Collection, Library of Congress]: image by Xoteroto, 27 June 2007
After a photo taken by Luis Rosskam, circa 1942: photo by Patrick McConahay, 12 February 2012
Lars Wall barbershop, Milton, North Dakota. "April 1917, Bill Bell, Barber"--Back of hand-colored print.: photographer unknown; image via Fred Hultstrand History in Pictures Collection, North Dakota State University Institute for Regional Studies
Lupe y Jose, Ramos Barbershop, 2102 S. Central Ave., LA: photo by Camilo J. Vergara, 1997 (Library of Congress)
Juan the barber cutting Marcos' hair, Alley W. of Juniper St., by 108th St., LA : photo by Camilo J. Vergara, November 1996 (Library of Congress)
Barbershop (Bellflower, Ca.): photo by Michaelj1998, 11 April 2009
The House of God Spiritual Temple and New California Barbershop (Peralta Villa, Oakland): photo by efo, 13 May 2007
At the barber's. A lively barbershop in Colaba, Mumbai.: photo by Maciej Dakowicz, 13 September 2016
At the barber's. A lively barbershop in Colaba, Mumbai.: photo by Maciej Dakowicz, 13 September 2016
At the barber's. A lively barbershop in Colaba, Mumbai.: photo by Maciej Dakowicz, 13 September 2016
At Happy Hour
****: photo by Rudy Boyer, 13 December 2016
[Untitled, Thailand]: photo by peerapat palaseng, 11 February 2017
[Untitled, Thailand]: photo by peerapat palaseng, 11 February 2017
[Untitled, Thailand]: photo by peerapat palaseng, 11 February 2017
Cats at the market in Colaba, Mumbai: photo by Maciej Dakowicz, 5 September 2016
Happy Hour #4 [Nordernly, Niedersachen, Germany]: photo by Michael May, 16 April 2016
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