File this one under, ‘no, this not a joke.’ For Friday’s off-camera White House press briefing, CNN hired a sketch artist to render images of press secretary Sean Spicer as yet another example of their pathetic meltdowns over the Trump communications team’s decisions about access.
Fox News White House correspondent Kevin Corke teased this news earlier Friday, but CNN Newsroom anchor Brooke Baldwin made an on-air announcement following the tape-delayed audio from briefing while sketches appeared next to her.
“We at CNN sent a sketch artist inside to provide you with the visuals the White House won't allow you to see. So you're actually looking at this artist rendering of press secretary Sean Spicer giving the answers. They refused to be recorded on camera. Brian, this is the only way people can see. It's ridiculous,” she complained to Reliable Sources host Brian Stelter.
Stelter obviously agreed, touting his network’s latest achievement as an example of CNN “getting creative.” He explained that they were done by “well-known courtroom artist” Bill Hennessy and are open for “other television networks...to use.”
“He's covered a lot of trials but I believe it's his first day sketching a White House press briefing....He was in the back of the briefing, didn't have his easel the way he usually has but he was able to draw the briefing. He's working on color versions of these images now,” Stelter added.
Almost predicting the onslaught of criticism and mockery that CNN would face (from spaces like this one), Stelter proclaimed that “[t]he point here is serious” and “CNN did not send a cartoonist in order to make fun of the briefing”:
They sent an actual sketch artist because it's a way to create a picture, paint a picture of these briefings for people because we, the viewers, weren't able to watch on camera. You know, Brooke, this is an example of the White House rolling back press access.
“I think today, CNN trying something new inside the briefing in order to have people have a sense of what it looks like,” the senior CNN media correspondent concluded.
Senior White House correspondent Jeff Zeleny chimed in a few moments later, stating the White House position that they believe off-camera briefings “allow for a more substantive discussion on policy.” Naturally, Zeleny quickly pivoted back to slamming this argument.
If the laughter created by this idea wasn’t enough, Zeleny correctly surmised that these meltdowns (including his) are exactly what President Trump (and, by extension, his supporters) want to see:
This White House is trying to avoid questions about the Russia investigation over and over and the President also, I believe, is trying to have the media sort of fight with itself and talk about itself. He relishes the moment when the media is talking about the media. You know, he enjoys this[.]
Before going back to Baldwin, Zeleny complimented Hennessy by suggesting that this role is no different than one Hennessy has played in courtrooms for murder trials:
I was just talking to Bill Hennessy just before I came out here, Brooke, and I can tell you, he is a very talented artist as we've seen, and he has, you know, a sketching out some more things of the scene in the room there and as Brian said, this isn't a cartoon. This is a real depiction of what's going on there. So certainly, like a courtroom, like a murder trial or something elsewhere cameras aren't allowed, they weren't allowed today so we went in with a sketch artist, Brooke.
Here’s the relevant transcript from June 23's CNN Newsroom with Brooke Baldwin:
CNN Newsroom with Brooke Baldwin
June 23, 2017
3:24 p.m. Eastern
BROOKE BALDWIN: Let’s also just talk about the briefing now. Brian Stelter is with me and just so we're all transparent, this is the second straight day that the White House has not allowed you to see the briefing. In fact, there have only been two on-camera briefings in the past two weeks, so 15 days. We at CNN sent a sketch artist inside to provide you with the visuals the White House won't allow you to see. So you're actually looking at this artist rendering of press secretary Sean Spicer giving the answers. They refused to be recorded on camera. Brian, this is the only way people can see. It's ridiculous.
BRIAN STELTER: This is CNN getting creative. Other television networks will be able to use these images later today as well, Brooke. This is by artist Bill Hennessy, who’s a well-known courtroom artist. He works at the Supreme Court all the time for CNN and other news outlets. He's covered a lot of trials but I believe it's his first day sketching a White House press briefing. So you see his images on screen here. He was in the back of the briefing, didn't have his easel the way he usually has but he was able to draw the briefing. He's working on color versions of these images now. The point here is serious. CNN did not send a cartoonist in order to make fun of the briefing. They sent an actual sketch artist because it's a way to create a picture, paint a picture of these briefings for people because we, the viewers, weren't able to watch on camera. You know, Brooke, this is an example of the white house rolling back press access. We've seen what is normally on camera daily briefings become a relatively infrequent exercise. You mentioned only twice in the past two weeks. The briefings have been held on camera. Most of the time they have been off camera, audio only and no live audio. It's weird in this age Periscope and Facebook live that you and I could get our phone out and live stream right now but the White House is being so restrictive and we've seen a number of attempts to change this. There was a meeting yesterday with the head of the White House Correspondents Association with Sean Spicer expressing concerns about these restrictions, but I think today, CNN trying something new inside the briefing in order to have people have a sense of what it looks like.
BALDWIN: So the concerns have been expressed. Jeff, just back over to you at the White House. I mean, tell me what's the White House's explanation? I'm checking my Twitter during the briefing and getting from viewers like I'm not tuning in to listen to a podcast. I mean, people deserve to see the briefing. Why not?
JEFF ZELENY: Well, Sean Spicer was asked that directly again today at the audio-only briefing and he said, look, he said that this is something the White House is trying to allow for a more substantive discussion on policy. That's actually, perhaps, some of it and it was a robust briefing today with some serious discussions. Of course, that can happen on camera as well here. I mean, this would not be all that unusual if this happened to be the anomaly. If there were three or four daily briefings and once a week or so — I can remember back in the Obama days, back in the Bush administration, which I was covering as well, the press secretary would have, you know, a group of reporters in his office to talk about things in a more substantive way that weren't necessarily in sound bytes but that's not what this White House is doing. This White House is trying to avoid questions about the Russia investigation over and over and the President also, I believe, is trying to have the media sort of fight with itself and talk about itself. He relishes the moment when the media is talking about the media. You know, he enjoys this, but seeing this sketch artist there, I was just talking to Bill Hennessy just before I came out here, Brooke, and I can tell you, he is a very talented artist as we've seen, and he has, you know, a sketching out some more things of the scene in the room there and as Brian said, this isn't a cartoon. This is a real depiction of what's going on there. So certainly, like a courtroom, like a murder trial or something elsewhere cameras aren't allowed, they weren't allowed today so we went in with a sketch artist, Brooke.
