.
![]()
White House bars major news outlets from gaggle: image via AP Images @AP_Images, 24 February 2016
White House bars major news outlets from informal briefing: AP Top News, 24 February 2017
News organizations including The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, CNN and Politico were blocked from joining an informal, on-the-record White House press briefing Friday.
The Associated Press chose not to participate in the briefing after White House press secretary Sean Spicer restricted the number of journalists included. Typically, the daily briefing is televised and open to all news organizations credentialed to cover the White House.
"The AP believes the public should have as much access to the president as possible," Lauren Easton, the AP's director of media relations, said in a statement.
On Friday, hours after President Donald Trump delivered a speech blasting the media, Spicer invited only a pool of news organizations that represents and shares reporting with the larger press corps. He also invited several other major news outlets, as well as smaller organizations including the conservative Washington Times, One America News Network and Breitbart News, whose former executive chairman, Steve Bannon, is Trump's chief strategist. When the additional news organizations attempted to gain access, they weren't allowed to enter.
The White House said it felt "everyone was represented" by those in the pool and the invited organizations.
"We decided to add a couple of additional people beyond the pool. Nothing more than that," said White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders.
When asked by a reporter attending whether he was playing favorites, Spicer said the White House had "shown an abundance of accessibility," according to an audio recording of the briefing later circulated by the pool.
The pool included Reuters, Bloomberg, CBS, Hearst Newspapers and CBS Radio. Others in the briefing were Fox, NBC and ABC. Bloomberg reported that its reporter was unaware of the exclusions until after the briefing.
John Roberts, Fox's chief White House correspondent, told anchor Shepard Smith on the air Friday that Fox supports complaints being filed by the White House Correspondents Association and pool TV networks.
"You can speculate, Shep, that there might be some extenuating circumstances as to why those people were not invited, we're going to look into that further...." Roberts said.
In a statement, the correspondent association's president, Jeff Mason, said the group was "protesting strongly" against how the briefing was handled by the White House.
CBS News said in a statement that it was the pool's radio and TV outlet Friday.
"We recorded audio of this event and quickly shared it out of an obligation to protect the interests of all pool members," the news division said.
When Spicer was asked by a reporter at the briefing whether he was playing favorites, he said he "disagreed with the premise of the question," according to the audio.
"We've brought more reporters into this process. And the idea that every time that every single person can't get their question answered or fit in a room that we're excluding people. We've actually gone above and beyond with making ourselves, our team, and our briefing room more accessible than probably any prior administration. And so I think you can take that to the bank.
"We do what we can to accommodate the press. I think we've gone above and beyond when it comes to accessibility, and openness and getting folks — our officials, our team."
During a panel discussion last December, Spicer said that open access for the media is "what makes a democracy a democracy versus a dictatorship."
Reaction to Friday's events from the barred outlets and others was swift.
Davan Maharaj, editor-in-chief and publisher of the Los Angeles Times, called the newspaper's exclusion "unfortunate."
"The public has a right to know, and that means being informed by a variety of news sources, not just those filtered by the White House press office in hopes of getting friendly coverage," Maharaj said in a statement. "Regardless of access, the Times will continue to report on the Trump administration without fear or favor."
Dean Baquet, executive editor of The New York Times, said that "nothing like this has ever happened at the White House in our long history of covering multiple administrations of different parties. We strongly protest the exclusion of The New York Times and the other news organizations. Free media access to a transparent government is obviously of crucial national interest."
CNN's Jake Tapper took aim at the White House as he kicked off "The Lead with Jake Tapper" hours after the briefing.
"A White House that has had some difficulty telling the truth and that has seemed to have trouble getting up to speed on the basic competent functioning of government, and a president who seems particularly averse to any criticism and has called the press the enemies of the American people — they're taking the next step in attempting to avoid checks and balances and accountability.
"It's not acceptable. In fact, it's petulant, and indicative of a lack of basic understanding of how an adult White House functions," Tapper said.
The Committee to Protect Journalists also condemned the move by the White House.
"We are concerned by the decision to bar reporters from a press secretary briefing," CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon said in a statement. "The U.S. should be promoting press freedom and access to information."
We are real news Mr. President. #realnews: tweet via Jim Acosta @Acosta, 17 February 2017
7-year-old to Sen. Tom Cotton: Don't take away PBS Kids to build a wall
Jim Acosta Retweeted CNN
Jim Acosta added,
Was Toby paid too?
image via Jim Acosta @Acosta, 24 February 2017
Yes we can... elect Obama president of France? A guerrilla campaign is giving it a try: image via CNN @CNN, 24 February 2017
![]()
Support for Obamacare is now at an all-time high, according to two surveys released this week: image via CNN @CNN, 24 February 2017
![]()
![]()
@POTUS looks towards Business Executives as he signs an executive order calling for rollbacks of regulations. @realDonaldTrump: image via Doug Mills @dougmillsnyt, 24 February 2017
![EU Libya Migrants]()
![EU Libya Migrants]()
![EU Libya Migrants]()
![Iraq Mosul]()
![India Kashmir Rebel Attack]()
![Britain Weather]()
Waves crash over the lighthouse in Newhaven, East Sussex southern England, as flights were cancelled and commuters were warned they faced delays as winds reached nearly 90mph when Storm Doris battered many part of Britain. Thursday Feb. 23, 2017.: photo by (Gareth Fuller/PA via AP, 23 February 2017
Jim Acosta Retweeted CNN
Jim Acosta added,
Was Toby paid too?
image via Jim Acosta @Acosta, 24 February 2017
Reading The Pictures Retweeted Robert Gumpert
image via Reading The Pictures @ReadingThePix, 24 January 2017
![]()
CPAC activists make their pitch to young conservatives with "hip and cool" swag: image via CNN @CNN, 24 February 2017
![]()
Reading The Pictures added,
End of the beginning.image via Reading The Pictures @ReadingThePix, 24 January 2017
CPAC activists make their pitch to young conservatives with "hip and cool" swag: image via CNN @CNN, 24 February 2017
Yes we can... elect Obama president of France? A guerrilla campaign is giving it a try: image via CNN @CNN, 24 February 2017
Support for Obamacare is now at an all-time high, according to two surveys released this week: image via CNN @CNN, 24 February 2017
Trump, at CPAC, says reporters should only use sources with names. His White House held a gaggle on background this morning.
Trip Gabriel Retweeted Sara Murray
Trip Gabriel added,
Right now, POTUS is last person the media is going to look to for how to do our jobs.
Right now, POTUS is last person the media is going to look to for how to do our jobs.
tweet via Trip Gabriel @TripGabriel, 24 February 2017
Trip Gabriel Retweeted Donald J. Trump
Trip Gabriel added,
To be clear, he's complaining about CNN story about FBI refusing to follow WH request to disparage report of Trump campaign ties to Russia tweet via Trip Gabriel @TripGabriel, 24 February 2017
Out of Mind
A woman from Ivory Coast holds her child, as they wait aboard a rubber boat out of control to be assisted by an NGO, 25 miles north of Sabratha, off the Libyan coast, early in the morning on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017.: photo by Santi Palacios/AP, 23 February 2017
Refugees and migrants rescued at sea off Libyan coast - photo by @SantiPalacios: image via AP Images @AP_Images, 23 February 2017
Refugees and migrants rescued at sea off Libyan coast - photo by @SantiPalacios: image via AP Images @AP_Images, 23 February 2017
Waves crash over the lighthouse in Newhaven, East Sussex southern England, as flights were cancelled and commuters were warned they faced delays as winds reached nearly 90mph when Storm Doris battered many part of Britain. Thursday Feb. 23, 2017.: photo by (Gareth Fuller/PA via AP, 23 February 2017
Barbershop
![Serbia Migrants Daily Life]()
An Afghan refugee man gives a haircut to a friend in an abandoned warehouse where they have taken refuge in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017. Hundreds of migrants have been sleeping rough in freezing conditions in central Belgrade looking for ways to cross the heavily guarded EU borders.: photo by Muhammed Muheisen/AP, 22 February 2017
![Untitled | by Md. Imam Hasan]()
An Afghan refugee man gives a haircut to a friend in an abandoned warehouse where they have taken refuge in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017. Hundreds of migrants have been sleeping rough in freezing conditions in central Belgrade looking for ways to cross the heavily guarded EU borders.: photo by Muhammed Muheisen/AP, 22 February 2017
[Dhaka]: photo by Muhammad Imam Hasan, 13 February 2017
So We Turned Round And Drove All the Way Home
counting
the Burma
Shave signs
from the back seat, from Iowa
on east, running
the numbers
of out of state
license plates
through the exoterica
filter. In that car
the back seat was the family gaggle.
The gaggle in that/
any town USA back
then, was the local barbershop,
where a kid with big ears learnt
the adult
world.
There were many
barbershops, even one to every urban
neighborhood, so that
it was just
round the corner
near Madison Street
where I learnt
what happened in
the cigar factories
of Havana, a faraway city
where I could never go.
"They played Don Quijote
over
and over
on a loudspeaker
as we
rolled. I still know
that whole book by heart!"
An immigrant, though I only
say that
now. Then I thought
tall elegant barber
with mysterious
sense of humor.
On the window a sign
I passed very day yet could not figure
out
for a long time
read
WE'D LIKE TO CU
BA
CUSTOMER OF OURS.
My grandfather
was a always a big enjoyer
of the barber shop gaggle.
Different
larger down town barber
shop, for him. When I was ten
we drove 2500 miles
and waited in the car
while he went in to a barbershop
in boiling Hemet
and came out steaming
having picked up from the gaggle
the news his old pal H
whom he'd driven all that way
to see
had become a Mason.
Agentle man, but the challenge
of the alien -- another recollection, roadside
café in California
desert
near Indio, where
that bad
barbeque in the road
house
made everybody sick
and it was 110 degrees
in the non
existent shade -- the gas
station beyond, where anger over
the overcharge
of a dollar
caused him to refer
to the attendant as a
mex
in speaking over the front seat
to my grandmother
and their daughter my aunt
without taking his eyes off
the shimmering
heat mirage highway
(... eavesdropping on the gaggle
again
... my continuing education).
Agentle man, but the challenge
of the alien -- another recollection, roadside
café in California
desert
near Indio, where
that bad
barbeque in the road
house
made everybody sick
and it was 110 degrees
in the non
existent shade -- the gas
station beyond, where anger over
the overcharge
of a dollar
caused him to refer
to the attendant as a
mex
in speaking over the front seat
to my grandmother
and their daughter my aunt
without taking his eyes off
the shimmering
heat mirage highway
(... eavesdropping on the gaggle
again
... my continuing education).
Luis Rosskam, street scene in Washington, D.C., winter of 1941-42 [Farm Security Administration Collection, Library of Congress]: image by Xoteroto, 27 June 2007
After a photo taken by Luis Rosskam, circa 1942: photo by Patrick McConahay, 12 February 2012
Lars Wall barbershop, Milton, North Dakota."April 1917, Bill Bell, Barber"--Back of hand-colored print.: photographer unknown; image via Fred Hultstrand History in Pictures Collection, North Dakota State University Institute for Regional Studies
Lupe y Jose, Ramos Barbershop, 2102 S. Central Ave., LA: photo by Camilo J. Vergara, 1997 (Library of Congress)
Juan the barber cutting Marcos' hair, Alley W. of Juniper St., by 108th St., LA : photo by Camilo J. Vergara, November 1996 (Library of Congress)
Barbershop (Bellflower, Ca.): photo by Michaelj1998, 11 April 2009
The House of God Spiritual Temple and New California Barbershop (Peralta Villa, Oakland): photo by efo, 13 May 2007
At the barber's. A lively barbershop in Colaba, Mumbai.: photo by Maciej Dakowicz, 13 September 2016
At the barber's. A lively barbershop in Colaba, Mumbai.: photo by Maciej Dakowicz, 13 September 2016
At the barber's. A lively barbershop in Colaba, Mumbai.: photo by Maciej Dakowicz, 13 September 2016
At Happy Hour
****: photo by Rudy Boyer, 13 December 2016
[Untitled, Thailand]: photo by peerapat palaseng, 11 February 2017
[Untitled, Thailand]: photo by peerapat palaseng, 11 February 2017
[Untitled, Thailand]: photo by peerapat palaseng, 11 February 2017
Cats at the market in Colaba, Mumbai: photo by Maciej Dakowicz, 5 September 2016
Happy Hour #4 [Nordernly, Niedersachen, Germany]: photo by Michael May, 16 April 2016