President Donald Trump’s time in office may mark the notable end of an era, namely, that of the traditional White House daily press briefing.
The Washington Examiner’s Rob Crilly just put out a report detailing the demise of the longstanding practice over the past few years.
Hostile reporters ruin it for all
At the start of Trump’s presidency, White House press briefings were held, as usual, once a day. But, that began to change in 2018.
By the end of that year, once-a-day became roughly once-a-month, until March 11 of this year, which was the last time in the past six months that such a briefing was held.
What happened? In short, the mainstream media happened, and President Trump decided that he’d seen enough.
“The reason [then-White House Press Secretary] Sarah Sanders does not go to the ‘podium’ much anymore is that the press covers her so rudely & inaccurately, in particular certain members of the press,” the president tweeted in January. “I told her not to bother, the word gets out anyway.”
RIP
As Crilly reported, the practice of holding White House press briefings — at least as we know them today — has not been around forever. In fact, they really only date back to 1969 and the Richard Nixon administration.
That year, in an effort to increase transparency and accommodate the growing television news industry, Nixon ordered the reconfiguration of a room in the White House from one that held an indoor swimming pool to the one that we now see — or, rather, used to see — featuring the famous podium and seating for members of the media.
But that was just the room. The actual practice of televising these briefings, on a nearly daily basis, only goes back to 1995 and the Bill Clinton administration.
2019 marks the 50th anniversary of the modern-day practice of holding formalpress briefings. At the same time, it also appears that we may be witnessing its end.
Increased access
The liberal mainstream media establishment has registered its harsh disapproval of this shift. But, it is important to note that this president has made himself more accessible to journalists than just about any of his predecessors, through a wide range of press availabilites and events.
As the current White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham aptly put it: “President Trump communicates with the American people more than any president in history. The fact that the White House press corps can no longer grandstand on TV is of no concern to us.”
No comments: