A new policy being implemented by the Biden White House will prevent a significant conservative news organization from freely covering the administration.
The Washington Examiner reported that The Daily Signal, a website supported by the Heritage Foundation with 2.5 million monthly readers, will no longer have its daily “hard pass,” which is both a status symbol in the media and a requirement for unrestricted access to the West Wing press room, where daily briefings take place.
“I have covered the Obama and the Trump administrations and have not seen a press purge like this, and it should be concerning to anyone when an administration attempts to select who can and can’t cover it,” noted Daily Signal White House Correspondent Fred Lucas.
Rob Bluey, the executive editor of the publication, wrote about it in an article with the forthright title “Biden Boots Daily Signal Reporter From White House Press Briefings.”
President of Heritage Dr. Kevin Roberts tweeted: “The White House is making it harder for reporters to cover the so-called most ‘open and transparent administration in history.’ If this happened under the prior administration, the media would be screaming censorship. Today, there’s not a peep. Shameful.”
The White House is making it harder for reporters to cover the so-called most “open and transparent administration in history.” If this happened under the prior administration, the media would be screaming censorship. Today, there’s not a peep. Shameful. https://t.co/lt4Oxb6cKE
— Kevin Roberts (@KevinRobertsTX) July 18, 2023
The precise media outlets impacted have not yet been made public, but many more are expected to lose their passes as a result of the new regulations. Notably, Simon Ateba, the Today News Africa White House correspondent, is also anticipated to lose his pass as a result of his acrimonious contacts with Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, according to the Examiner.
The administration’s plan to require that all correspondents reapply for passes is the main cause for concern. They are now required to have an additional federal pass, such as a press pass for Congress or the Supreme Court. It can be difficult to obtain these extra passes, and they are frequently unavailable to non-traditional news organizations like the Daily Signal, which did not meet the requirements under the old rules.
Shouldn’t every journalist be outraged about this?
Pretty telling if they aren’t. https://t.co/IdDTdBTRaV
— House Judiciary GOP (@JudiciaryGOP) July 19, 2023
“The rules also require reporters to behave in a way that some claim bars them from barking out questions or being overly aggressive when stonewalled by officials,” the Examiner noted further.
Similar strategies were used by the Obama White House to bar particular reporters. The Obama-Biden White House’s press practices have come under harsh criticism from media specialists who claim they violate the First Amendment’s tenets.
“Under the new policy, there is zero transparency from the White House as to how many journalists are losing their hard passes. Moreover, the administration has never articulated a justification for purging media they deem noncompliant,” said Lucas, who has been in possession of a hard pass since 2009, according to the Examiner.
The outlet added it is presumed that the White House will maintain its previous policy of requiring non-pass-holding reporters to seek approval before entering to cover daily briefings and other events accessible to pass holders, but that isn’t clear yet.
Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, yelled at reporters earlier this month after they persisted in asking her about the cocaine find.
“You know, there has been some irresponsible reporting about the family. And so I’ve got to call that out here. And I have been very clear. I was clear two days ago when talking about this over and over again as I was being asked the question,” an angry Jean-Pierre said at one point.
