Excluding selected news organizations (CNN, the New York Times, Politico and the Los Angeles Times) from being allowed to cover press briefings is a shameful abuse of executive power that should be condemned by anyone with a modicum of respect for the Constitution. A free press is vital to the existence of any democracy and anyone who seeks to weaken this institution is an enemy of the People of the United States. The so-called president, and all who choose to support him in this shameful effort, should be roundly condemned for not objecting to this action.
In the words of the Washington Post’s Executive Editor, Marty Baron, ” It’s appalling that the White House would exclude news outlets like the New York Times, CNN, Politico, the Los Angeles Times, and BuzzFeed from its publicly announced briefings. This is an undemocratic path that the administration is traveling. There is nothing to be gained from the White House restricting the public’s access to information. We are currently evaluating what our response will be if this sort of thing happens again.” While the Wall Street Journal was present at the briefing, it said in a statement afterward that it hadn’t been aware of the exclusions and “had we known at the time, we would not have participated, and we will not participate in such closed briefings in the future.”
While the above-named news organizations were barred from the briefing this morning, Breitbart was allowed to attend. Cherry-picking who can and cannot attend news briefings smacks of favoritism and amounts to an unprecedented attempt to politicize a process that, by its very definition–a free press–must remain free of political influence. While such undignified shenanigans should come as no surprise from our boorish so-called leader, those in Congress who will likely turn a blind eye to this do so at their own risk. Unfortunately, their intransigence also places our democracy at risk.
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