Statement from Bloomberg editor in chief John Micklethwait on the WH Barring Certain Media

[kpete]

Link to tweet

https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2017-02-24/white-house-denies-access-to-briefing-to-times-politico-cnn

UPDATE:
Exclusive: Bloomberg cancels WHCA dinner afterparty
https://www.axios.com/exclusive-bloomberg-cancels-afterparty-2283144254.html

[Skittles]

1. THANKING Mr. Micklethwait

ALL LEGITIMATE NEWS NEEDS TO FOLLOW SUIT

[Pachamama]

2. EVERY News Organization should issue this kind of statement and live by it

Last edited Fri Feb 24, 2017, 10:39 PM - Edit history (1)

Only way to stop this assault on free press and as far as I am concerned, anybody who doesn't and then attends such exclusionary events, should be tagged FAKE NEWS

[LAS14]

16. They wouldn't miss much. Those press briefings and press conferences...

... are full of contradictory blather. There's really no point in paying attention as whatever they say is contradicted the next day. Or a lie. They should stop reporting lies.

[Marie Marie]

23. Exactly - Stop reporting the lies and dig for the truth.

They do not need "access" to do that and that is their job. Why is this so difficult for the MSM to understand?

[SammyWinstonJack]

28. $$$$$$

[Amaryllis]

35. Relevant thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1016179197

[ProudProgressiveNow]

3. K&R nt

[Cha]

4. KICK

[NastyRiffraff]

5. Agreed: ALL news organizations should boycott these "briefings"

The briefings are filled with mostly lies anyway, so they won't miss anything.

[onetexan]

14. i've been saying that all along

he won't have any press except fox &breitbart.

[Stinky The Clown]

6. I hope they all follow this lead. Leave the WH to the fringe nutters.

WorldNut Daily; InfoWars, Brietbart, Mythical 400 lb Fat Guy's Blog, etc.

[Buns_of_Fire]

7. I think I heard on Hardball that the WSJ has issued a similar statement. nt

[LAS14]

8. Yes!!

[LAS14]

9. Wall Street Journal, likewise.

The Wall Street Journal, which did participate in the briefing, said in a statement that it was unaware 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."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/02/24/white-house-blocks-cnn-new-york-times-from-press-briefing-hours-after-trump-slams-media/

[Buns_of_Fire]

13. Thank you. I was trying to find a cite for that. nt

[BumRushDaShow]

10. First they came for CNN

but we did not speak out because we were not cable media.

Then they came for the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the LA Times but, we did not speak out because we were not print media.

Then they came for Politico, Buzzfeed, and The Hill, but we did not speak out because we were not web-based news sites.

Then they came for the BBC and other foreign press, but we did not speak out because we are domestic media.

Then they came for us and there was no one left but Breitbart, Fox News, Washington Times, and Infowars, who are now laughing in our faces upon the accomplishment of their goal to completely delegitimize all media except themselves.

[SammyWinstonJack]

29. Very good!

[Leghorn21]

34. Aw Bum, this is perfect. Just perfection. That last paragraph is ghoulish and truly creepy.

I don't know how these things work, but - can you post this as a separate op?

[zentrum]

11. Meaning what?

They are already excluded. "You can't fire me--I quit harrumph!"

[LAS14]

15. Bloomberg wasn't excluded.

[yallerdawg]

12. A return of ethics and values in journalism?

Thank you, Mr. Precedent.

[dchill]

17. Can you say "boycott?"

[Blue Idaho]

18. Trump needs the news media more than the media needs Trump

All legit news agencies should boycott further WH briefings until they come to their senses. Let's see just how happy that makes the Narcissist in the WH.

[notdarkyet]

25. He would have a tweet meltdown from attention deficit syndrome. He craves it

[Blue Idaho]

26. No kidding...

The guy is sooooooo needy he would have an epic meltdown.

[SammyWinstonJack]

30. I'd pay to see that.

[dalton99a]

27. Without the news media, he wouldn't be in the White House.

[SammyWinstonJack]

32. So true and this is how he repays them. His supporters should take note.

[WheelWalker]

19. All media would be best served, and best serve, to focus on investigation, not WH fake news

[Shoonra]

20. The remainder of the press should react accordingly

When the Obama press office once (just once) left Fox News out of a press briefing - this was after Fox News had Very Conspicuously donated money to the Republican campaign funds and had promoted its rightwing talkshows - (and even the Fox Network was otherwise present) the rest of the press pool threatened to sit out future press briefings until Fox News was returned.

If Trump persists in excluding NYT and CNN, or even some lesser media, the press should retaliate by pooling for just one or two cameras and one or two reporters (but those very unsympathetic to Trump) at the briefings - and otherwise an empty room for Melissa to face. All the networks and newspapers can take their material from the pooled cameras.

[gratuitous]

22. The responsible media outlets will follow suit

So it should be pretty easy to spot the irresponsible outlets. Maybe the media will have to start cultivating government sources outside the narrowing conduits of the "official" spokespeople. I'm guessing that any random stone thrown down the hall in the White House would hit a half dozen disgruntled employees who would be tickled pink to chat with a reporter.

[moondust]

21. Except that "toady press" will still participate.

And eventually be the only ones there, no? Breitbart, etc.

Isn't that what TheRump wants?

[WhiteTara]

24. Hollywood won't come to his party

and it will just be breitbart and Ted Nugent.

[Doodley]

31. The media outlets that stay without complaint will be complicit to Trump's fascism.

[still_one]

33. Bloomberg is not perfect, but compared to the rest of the industry they have been light years ahead