AP Photo/Evan Vucci
The White House is reportedly on the verge of putting out a new seating chart for the briefing room — and some major outlets could find themselves losing their front-row seats.
According to Axios, the White House plans to create and enforce its own seating chart for the briefing room — taking over from the journalist-run White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA), which has managed that task for decades.
An unnamed person identified by Axios as a Senior White House official told the outlet that the Trump administration is aiming for a “fundamental restructuring of the briefing room, based on metrics more reflective of how media is consumed today.”
“The goal isn’t merely favorable coverage,” the official claimed to Axios. “It’s truly an honest look at consumption [of the outlets’ coverage]. Influencers are important but it’s tough because they aren’t [equipped to provide] consistent coverage. So the ability to cover the White House is part of the metrics.”
Axios’s Mike Allen added in his report:
“Major legacy outlets will still be included. But expect some to have diminished visibility compared with their customary spots in the first few rows. ‘We want to balance disruption with responsibility,’ the official said.
The move would be certain to ignite a firestorm from correspondents already angered by the White House now choosing the reporters who make up the press pool — the small groups which are given access to the president at events which cannot accommodate large numbers of journalists. Critics believe the Trump administration is trying to silence its critics and elevate its proponents.
“This move tears at the independence of a free press in the United States,” said WHCA president Eugene Daniels, in response to the White House taking over the press pool assignments. “It suggests the government will choose the journalists who cover the president. In a free country, leaders must not be able to choose their own press corps.”
On Saturday, the WHCA announced it will not feature anti-Trump comic Amber Ruffin at the annual White House Correspondents Dinner in April — amid criticism from the Trump administration about Ruffin headlining the dinner.
The post White House Set to Put Out New Seating Chart for the Briefing Room Which Could Boot Legacy Outlets to Back Rows: Axios first appeared on Mediaite.
