The White House plans to determine which news outlets have access to President Donald Trump, taking control from an association of journalists after more than a century.
The changes, announced by Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday, mean the White House will determine which outlets participate in the “pool” that covers presidential events and shares material with other media outlets.
The rotation of pool reporters was previously determined by the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA), which said the decision “tears at the independence of a free press”.
The surprise announcement comes as the Associated Press fights to restore its access to presidential events after it was blocked.
“The White House press team in this administration will determine who gets to enjoy the very privileged and limited access in spaces such as Air Force One and the Oval Office,” Leavitt said at a news briefing on Tuesday.
She said the changes would allow “new media” outlets – including streaming services and podcasts – to “share in this awesome responsibility”.
“Legacy media outlets who have been here for years will still participate in the pool, but new voices are going to be welcomed in as well,” she said.
“[By] deciding which outlets make up the limited press pool on a day-to-day basis, the White House will be restoring power back to the American people,” Leavitt added.
Founded in 1914, the WHCA has historically handled some logistics around day-to-day coverage of the president, most notably the “pool” of reporters, which includes a camera crew from one of the five major US networks, a radio correspondent and a rotating group of print outlets.
The WHCA has long claimed the pool is beneficial both for the president – who is able to quickly disseminate news – as well as for the wider media who receive pool reports, photographs, video and audio.
Pool reporters are on-duty every day – including weekends and holidays – both at the White House or when the president is travelling.
BBC News is among the outlets that participate in the radio pool.
The WHCA expressed concern that the move will benefit the White House by giving access to news outlets that it sees as sympathetic or friendly.
“This move does not give power back to the people – it gives power to the White House,” Fox News reporter Jacqui Heinrich, a WHCA board member, wrote on X.
In its own statement, the WHCA said that the decision “suggests the government will choose the journalists who cover the president”.
The WHCA said it was not given any notice about the White House’s decision before Tuesday’s news briefing.
Leavitt, meanwhile, said the WHCA would no longer have a “monopoly” on controlling the pool.
President Trump was asked about the announcement in the Oval Office later on Tuesday. “We’re going to be calling those shots,” he said of the changes.
Earlier this week, a US judge declined a request by the Associated Press to immediately restore its access to presidential events after the Trump administration blocked the agency in a dispute over the term “Gulf of America”.
The news agency has refused to change its style from the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America”, after President Trump renamed it with an executive order.
The AP argues the ban is retaliatory and infringes on First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and the press.
The ban has meant that the AP – which hundreds of news outlets rely on – has been unable to access press events alongside the rest of the pool at the White House as well as Air Force One.
A hearing has been scheduled for 20 March.
By BBC News
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