- Reporters recently complained about White House press staff asking questions ahead of time.
- Doing so will make reporters appear to be working with the administration.
- The White House did not deny the allegation, saying it was a normal part of running a news agency.
- Visit the Business Insider homepage for more stories.
On her first day of work, Jen Psaki, White House press secretary, pledged to “bring truth and transparency back to the briefing room,” saying she “deeply respects the role of a free and independent press.”
But less than two weeks after President Joe Biden’s reign, reporters are voicing concerns about White House executives trying to let them know in advance what questions they ask at briefings, The Daily Beast reported.
The problem with asking journalists their questions in advance is that it could give the impression that the media is cooperating with the Biden government, giving officials time to formulate proper answers.
For years, the media has been accused of being too leftist and not critical enough of democratic governments. A recent Fox News report claimed that journalists’ questions were too easy during Psaki’s first press briefing, compared to briefings during former President Donald Trump’s administration, when White House press secretaries rarely held briefings and often refused to answer questions.
According to The Daily Beast, during a Zoom call from the Association of White House Correspondents last Friday, reporters mentioned that Psaki’s team was trying to coax their questions in advance.
Multiple sources told The Daily Beast that WHCA leaders advised reporters to back down or not respond to such requests.
“While it is a relief to see briefings coming back, especially when it comes to factual information, the press cannot really do its job in the briefing room if the White House picks and chooses the questions they want,” says one. White House correspondent named by name. told The Daily Beast.
“That’s not really a free press at all.”
Insider has reached out to the White House for comment on the report.
But the White House press team did not deny the allegation when The Daily Beast came for comment, but explained that this was routine work needed to make press briefings as efficient as possible.
“Our goal is to make the daily briefing as useful and informative as possible for reporters and the public alike. Part of achieving that goal means consulting regularly with the reporters who will be in the briefing room to understand how the White House is doing. most helpful to give them the information they need, ”a White House spokesman told The Daily Beast.
“That two-way conversation is an important part of keeping the American people informed about how the government is serving them.”
Read more: Biden already has an antagonist-in-chief. It’s Ron DeSantis, the governor of the Florida GOP who has tagged Democrats as “Trump’s errand boy.”
Two people told The Daily Beast that there was precedence for this type of behavior in the Trump administration, with press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders asking certain outlets for questions ahead of major press conferences or events.
And during the Bush and Obama administrations, when reporters wanted to interview cabinet secretaries, they were asked the gist of their questions, The Daily Beast said.
Eric Schultz, a former deputy press secretary in Obama’s White House, defended the practice to The Daily Beast.
“This is textbook communication work. The briefing becomes pointless if the press secretary has to ask questions repeatedly, rather than come equipped to discuss what journalists are reporting on,” he said.
“In a non-COVID environment, this would happen during informal conversations throughout the day in the lower and higher press. One of the few benefits to reporters floating over your desk all day is that you get a sense of what they are. working on. “