White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs met with a delegation from the White House press corps for 75 minutes on Thursday in an effort to improve frayed relations between the two sides.
Ed Chen, a White House correspondent for Bloomberg News who is president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, said he asked for the meeting “to clear the air because in my 10-plus years at the White House, rarely have I sensed such a level of anger, which is wide and deep, among members over White House practices and attitude toward the press.”
Chen said he feels “very good about the collegial give and take.”
“We had a very good exchange with Robert,” Chen said. “He stayed overtime, and thus was late for his next meeting.”
Gibbs said the meeting in his West Wing office was “comprehensive and productive.”
“I started by thanking the WHCA on behalf of the president and first lady for protecting the privacy of the Obama children,” Gibbs said. “We discussed and made progress n a number of issues important to both.”
Chen recalled that the two sides agreed on “no immediate global solutions,” but said he came away expecting an “improvement in press access.”
Among the issues discussed:
—More behind-the-scenes access for news photographers. Obama aides often post photos by White House staff photographers of scenes that in the past might have been recorded by a selected news photographer, or by the rotating “tight pool” of photographers that has more access than the general press.
—CNN’s Ed Henry, who represented the networks at the meeting, pushed for more bill signings and world leader meetings to be opened to cameras.
—Journalists have complained of instances in which the White House declared a “full lid,” meaning no more scheduled releases or travel for the day, then later puts out a newsworthy release such as a readout of a presidential call with a world leader. A White House official told POLITICO: “We vowed to ensure that full lid violations were rare.”
—Internet access on Air Force One is being explored. Currently, the White House staff has access to communications equipment. But except in extraordinary circumstances, such as a presidential trip to Iraq or Afghanistan, the press is not able to file while airborne.
—On presidential trips, a rotating selection of about a dozen journalists (the pool) travels on Air Force One, while other news organizations (for instance, the other three networks) travel on a separate press charter arranged by the White House. Because of budget cutbacks, fewer news organizations are going on presidential trips, and many of those that do are sending fewer people. So more and more often, there has been too little to demand to make a press charter feasible. Reporters who are not in the pool, and want to cover the event, fly on their own. The White House warned the press delegation that this could mean a reduction in travel by aides relied on by reporters, including press officials and stenographers.
The immediately precipitating event for the meeting was an April 10 incident in which President Barack Obama left the White House complex to attend one of daughter’s soccer games at 9:20 a.m., without being accompanied by the usual traveling press pool, which had been told to show up by 11:30 a.m. About fifteen minutes after his departure, press officials scrambled to assemble a partial pool that departed at 9:43 a.m. But the pool did not catch up, and the president got back to the White House 10 minutes before the reporters.
At the time, Gibbs apologized to NBC News, the network assigned to the travel pool that day, and said it was an “unintentional … oversight” — a miscommunication between the president and his staff.
During the meeting, Gibbs did not to promise that such an instance would never happen again, but pointed out it was the first time in 15 months, attendees said.
The White House official told POLITICO: “Our percentage [of including the press] is pretty damn high, and we expect it to stay that way.”
Also representing the press at the session were the two other members of WHCA’s executive board — USA Today’s David Jackson and Reuters’ Caren Bohan. The others in the delegation were The New York Times’ Richard Stevenson; Terence Hunt of The Associated Press; John Harrington, president of the White House News Photographers Association; and WHNPA Secretary Ron Sachs.
Also attending for the White House were Deputy Press Secretary Josh Earnest and Katie Lillie, Deputy Director of Advance and Director of Press Advance.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0410/35944.html#ixzz0lSn2Kju8
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