Poll of the Day > Can someone explain to me why The White House is banning audio and video feed?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I don't remember this being an issue during Obama's or Bush's presidency and seeing how this is almost borderline infringing on the freedom of the press, which is part of the first amendment, this seems like an unconstitutional act of the Trump administration.

And in case you don't know WTF I'm talking about,

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/338457-white-house-reporters-fume-over-off-camera-briefings

The White House press corps vented frustration Monday with press secretary Sean Spicer for conducting off-camera briefings in place of the usual publicly broadcast briefings.

Spicer conducted an off-camera briefing with reporters on Monday in which the press was told it could not film or broadcast audio of the proceedings. Spicer conducted the last on-camera briefing last Monday.

“The White House press secretary is getting to a point where he’s just kind of useless,” CNN White House reporter Jim Acosta said after the briefing. “If they’re getting to this point where he’s not going to answer questions or go on camera or have audio, why are we even having these briefings or gaggles in the first place?”

The White House has increasingly forged its own path with the press — holding off-camera briefings and gaggles, imposing restrictions on reporters’ use of audio and video feeds, inviting Cabinet officials to speak only about specific policy issues and rotating between Spicer and deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Some of those moves have angered the White House press corps but delighted Trump’s supporters, who view the media as what White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon has dubbed the "opposition party."

Time reporter Zeke Miller asked Spicer Monday to explain “why our friends in radio and television can’t use this live.”

Spicer responded that the president had made comments at a photo opportunity with the Panamanian president and later would make public comments at a technology council meeting.

“There are days where we decide that the president’s voice should be the one who speaks for the administration,” Spicer said.

However, there is no opportunity on those occasions for reporters to question President Trump or his administration officials.

A second reporter at Monday’s briefing followed up.

“On the days when you come out here and there is not a camera, could you please ask the president to be ever so kind and step up here and answer some questions for us on that day?”

“I’ll be sure to share your sentiments with the president,” Spicer responded.

Spicer declined to call on CNN’s Acosta on Monday as the veteran reporter shouted questions at him that were ignored. Trump slammed CNN and Acosta at a February press conference as "fake news."

As Spicer walked away, Acosta shouted: “It’s off-camera and you can’t answer questions?”

Acosta then went on TV to call the off-camera briefing “bizarre.”

At off camera no audio briefing, Spicer took a question from a Russian reporter but not from CNN. #pravda

— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) June 19, 2017
There is a suppression of information going on at this WH that would not be tolerated at a city council mtg or press conf with a state gov.

— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) June 19, 2017
Call me old fashioned but I think the White House of the United States of America should have the backbone to answer questions on camera.

— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) June 19, 2017
Make no mistake about what we are all witnessing. This is a WH that is stonewalling the news media. Hiding behind no camera/no audio gaggles

— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) June 19, 2017

Because every time they do a briefing the journalists make an ass out of Sean Spicer because he just lies constantly.
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Don't worry guys, CNN has got the answer all figured out:

http://money.cnn.com/2017/06/23/media/white-house-press-briefing-sketch-artist/index.html
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Jen0125 posted...

Because every time they do a briefing the journalists make an ass out of Sean Spicer because he just lies constantly.

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They found out about Erik making all those topics so they're trying to help GameFAQs

Snowflake Cheeto doesn't want more humiliation from him and his fellow assholes and idiots.
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The Trump administration can't do a press conference without it being 90% lies Trump will refute a few hours later.

So if they try to cover it all up they can just claim the media is lying.

Parental lock blocking Spicer channel...
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Can't really call it a press briefing if they aren't allowed to broadcast any of it.

Someone should remind the white house how the entire purpose of the media is so people outside of the briefing room can know about it.

bump

Because Trump believes that being a President gives him the exact same rights as a dictator.
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jayj350 posted...

Can't really call it a press briefing if they aren't allowed to broadcast any of it.

Someone should remind the white house how the entire purpose of the media is so people outside of the briefing room can know about it.

Then they will just tell you they don't have to do a briefing at all.

To obscure reality and make it easier for them to claim any facts that harm their message are fake news
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I'm serious guys. I'm really curious about this.

"Don't believe what the various media outlets are telling you, our God-Emperor/Fearless Leader Trump will tell you everything you need to you as long as it meets his approval!"
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WastelandCowboy posted...

I'm serious guys. I'm really curious about this.

Damage control, plain and simple.
They can't fire Spicer because he will stud even more s*** with probably some sort of connections to something, and they can't stop him from doing dumb things like hiding in the bushes or whatever.

So they effectively cut the job from his job so he's still technically there and has some sort of obligation to Trump to not ruin stuff.

To avoid government transparency and accountability.
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WastelandCowboy posted...

I don't remember this being an issue during Obama's or Bush's presidency and seeing how this is almost borderline infringing on the freedom of the press, which is part of the first amendment, this seems like an unconstitutional act of the Trump administration.

Actually, it was an issue during Obama's tenure when the administration started to do things like ban photographers and rely on government-hired photographers for images. Obama restricted access to the White House and, at times, even barred journalists from organizations. A lot of this is basically just the bad precedent he set. (And also keep in mind that Obama was accused of using social media to bypass the press so he could get his message to the people, something that Trump seems to do as well.)

Historically speaking, the videotaped press briefing has no legal precedent. It became a tradition under JFK but, before that, Eisenhower used screened clips. The history is somewhat interesting
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/01/do-press-conferences-still-matter-214620

Foppe posted...

Because Trump believes that being a President gives him the exact same rights as a dictator.

That's not how dictatorships work. In actual dictatorship, the leader would shut down the press completely. Even Obama's raids on news outlet offices and illegal detention of journalists wasn't full-fledged dictatorship and that went a lot further than anything we've seen with Trump. Of course, Obama generally got a free pass on everything, right down to enacting a travel ban.

BlackScythe0 posted...

jayj350 posted...

Can't really call it a press briefing if they aren't allowed to broadcast any of it.

Someone should remind the white house how the entire purpose of the media is so people outside of the briefing room can know about it.

Then they will just tell you they don't have to do a briefing at all.

Are they legally obligated to hold press briefings at all? I'm not sure if that's been tradition or an actual requirement.

Mead posted...

To obscure reality and make it easier for them to claim any facts that harm their message are fake news

Given that the press routinely lies, misleads, and distorts, having a full account actually benefits a president. Granted, most people never look at the full context, they just focus on soundbytes and catchy headlines so even when a clip in its entirety exonerates somebody they're going to more likely remember a sentence which appears damning when framed in a negative context.
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Zeus posted...

BlackScythe0 posted...

jayj350 posted...

Can't really call it a press briefing if they aren't allowed to broadcast any of it.

Someone should remind the white house how the entire purpose of the media is so people outside of the briefing room can know about it.

Then they will just tell you they don't have to do a briefing at all.

Are they legally obligated to hold press briefings at all? I'm not sure if that's been tradition or an actual requirement.

I'm fairly sure it's not a obligation. I feel like I heard it wasn't on the news. And to be fair I can't even remember press briefings of any president before except like big issues. It's only an issue now because Trump creates new scandals every few days and it causes Spicer to say incredibly stupid stuff.

Zeus posted...

That's not how dictatorships work. In actual dictatorship, the leader would shut down the press completely

>Implies thats not his main goal
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