White House Hand-Picks Journalists, Excluding Some News Outlets

“The WHCA board is protesting strongly against how the White House is handling today’s gaggle”, it said in a statement.

Pressure is mounting on the US President to explain why several media outlets have been barred from White House press briefings.

Conservative news outlets Breitbart News, The Washington Times and One America News Network were permitted entry to the “gaggle”- an informal untelevised briefing – as was ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox.

“It is unsafe for democracy and for holding politicians accountable when a White House excludes tough-minded journalists who criticize them, “tweeted New York Times reporter Steven Greenhouse”. To their credit, the Associated Press and Time walked out of Spicer’s briefing when it became clear he was trying to punish selected news outlets.

Trump, last week, had railed against the media in his tweets, calling the press organisations “enemy of the people”.

National Press Club President Jeffrey Ballou said the “deeply disturbing” move “harkens back to the darkest chapters of U.S. history and reeks of undemocratic, un-American and unconstitutional censorship”.

Politico reported, citing multiple sources, that White House lawyers were also present for the meeting.

Of the administration’s dispute with CNN, in particular, Spicer said they reported “pretty serious accusations, making it appear as if we did something wrong and nefarious when we want to make sure we set the record straight”.

“Let’s not make any mistake about what’s happening here”, Tapper said.

The selective ban on media that follows the travel ban is likely to be viewed as a serious infringement on free speech rights that is embodied in the First Amendment.

This White House act was not part of the normal and healthy adversarial relationship between news media and government officials.

Reporters who cover the White House – a public building – are the eyes and ears of the public, and ask questions on issues that Americans care about.

The BBC has sought clarification from the White House on why its representative were denied access.

The White House Correspondents Association protested the decision, saying it would discuss the matter with the administration.

The move also comes after news organizations reported on attempts by the White House to have the Federal Bureau of Investigation refute stories that Trump operatives had been communicating with Russian officials during the presidential campaign.