On Sunday, Axios co-founder Mike Allen revealed the White House press team will be taking over the seating chart for news outlets inside the Brady Briefing Room, wrestling control from the elites that rule the White House Correspondents Association (WHCA) and a chart that primarily rewards corporate liberal media outlets.
Unsurprisingly, the WHCA melted down over this and released a 671-word statement Monday morning demanding the people they view deep down as enemies “abandon this wrong-headed effort and show the American people they’re not afraid to explain their policies and field questions from an independent media free from government control.”
Allen wrote “[i]t’s the latest — but likely not the last — effort by the White House to take a heavier hand in shaping who covers President Trump” by “upend[ing] decades-old press corps traditions” even though a source emphasized the tweaks would be to represent new outlets, not simply ones that openly support President Trump.
Sunday’s scoop came just over a month after the team — led by Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich — assumed control of schedule for the press pool, a smaller, rotating group of reporters for White House events and travel. As part of that change, they booted the Associated Press over the Gulf of America name change, triggering an ongoing lawsuit.
Allen’s source argued the alterations to seating chart would be “based on metrics more reflective of how media is consumed today” with newer voices being added to the front from “TV, print and digital outlets,” such as “online influencers and newer organizations” like “Axios, NOTUS and Punchbowl.”
The anonymous official made clear those rewarded per se won’t be entirely based on whether the White House has received “favorable coverage,” but “truly an honest look at consumption” and an outlet’s ability to be there day in and day out.
It was for that reason, they told Allen, that those moved towards the front wouldn’t necessarily all consist of influencers because, while “important...they aren’t [equipped to provide] consistent coverage.”
Before those who still give their full faith and credit to the liberal media, Allen said “[m]ajor legacy outlets will still be included. But expect some to have diminished visibility compared with their customary spots in the first few rows.”
Returning to the sanctimonious elites in the WHCA, they insisted they’ve “always been and will always be open” to supporting journalists of all ideologies, but are ready to go to war: “Our members want to cover the administration without fear or favor, and stand ready to question government officials from any corner of the Brady Briefing Room.”
After saying “the administration is seeking to cynically seize control of the system through which the independent press organizes itself,” the WHCA pricks declared they need to determine the seating chart because they – not anyone else — represent and work “for the American people.”
In turn, they declare, dinosaur, liberal outlets are necessary to be up front because they’re the real, actual “experienced, professional journalists” “the public” should reply on to “get the information it needs to understand and make decisions about the most powerful office in the world.”
To help think through where the seating chart currently stands, we’ll walk through the first three rows to show how the legacy liberal media dominate the front and the eye of the press secretary.
Going from left to right from the press secretary’s perspective, row one includes CNN, Reuters, ABC, Associated Press, CBS, Fox News, and NBC. In row two (and still going to left to right), the seats go USA Today, The New York Times, The Washington Post, National Public Radio (NPR), Bloomberg, CBS News Radio, and the Wall Street Journal.
Moving in the same direction for row three, liberal outlets still dominate with ABC News Radio, Los Angeles Times, Agence France-Presse (a major wire service), foreign pool (a rotating seat for a reporter representing an overseas outlet), McClatchy (a newspaper chain), PBS NewsHour, and Politico.
Daily Wire? They have to stand in the aisle. Breitbart and Real America’s Voice? Same deal. Axios and Semafor are also without seats.
Where do our friends with Newsmax sit? In the center of row six.
Thankfully, Real Clear Politics and The Washington Times have their own seats...but in row five.
How about our friends with the New York Post, America’s oldest, continuous newspaper? They have a better slot in the middle of the fourth row, but they have to share it with TheGrio. In fact, many smaller outlets have to share their seat with multiple other outlets.
Here are a few others. NewsNation? Row seven, split with Scripps (which laid off hundreds last year, doing away with around-the-clock national news). Daily Caller? Also in the last row (seven), sharing time with another friend of ours in EWTN.
