Dem
47
GOP
53
Donald Trump is thinking about shaking up the White House press briefing room. This is the room where the press secretary, soon to be the 27-year-old Karoline Leavitt, talks to the media every day and answers questions. The room is officially the James Brady Briefing Room. Traditionally, the first row goes to reporters from ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, CNN, the AP and Reuters. These are all heavyweights. In the second row are reporters from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, NPR, CBS News Radio, Bloomberg, and some other major outlets.
This is the old way. Trump is thinking about a new way. He wants to open it up to new media, which are more important in his view. Folks like Joe Rogan. After all, he has a bigger audience than any newspaper in the country. Don Jr. said: "If The New York Times has lied, they've been averse to everything, they're functioning as the marketing arm to the Democrat Party... why not open it up to people who have larger viewerships, stronger followings?"
The White House Correspondents Association, led by Politico's Eugene Daniels, is looking into how they should respond to an updated seating chart. One correspondent said: "What they may discover, though, is friendly coverage can quickly turn into: 'Why aren't you keeping your promises?' coverage."
Trump could be serious about this. Remember, one of the top things on any authoritarian's to-do list is muzzle the press. In 2018, Trump yanked the credential of CNN's Jim Acosta, whose coverage he didn't like. He continues to ridicule CNN and sued CBS last month. He has also threatened having the FCC crack down on broadcast networks that are "unfair" to him.
On the other hand, Julie Mason, a long-time White House correspondent, said: "If they think they're going to end White House reporting by throwing everyone out or clearing out the first three rows, good luck, because that's not how that works." (V)