Majority of WH Journalists Lose Press Passes After Failing Trump’s New Standard

If you want to get the highest-level media pass, the Trump administration says, you’d better be prepared to spend a lot of your time actually covering the White House. Apparently, the majority of journalists don’t — and that’s causing quite a stir among the media.
Earlier this year, the administration rolled out new rules for what reporters can get a “hard pass” — the pass that allows the easiest access to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
In March, Politico reported that “White House reporters grew concerned over the weekend after receiving an email from the press office informing them that they needed to be present at the White House at least 50 percent of the time to be eligible for a hard pass, a credential that allows for the swiftest access to the grounds.”
“’To qualify for a hard pass, you need to be physically present at the White House for your job 90 or more days in a 180-day window of time,’ read the email, which reiterated guidance sent to bureau chiefs in Feb. 2017 that apparently wasn’t shared widely with reporters. The email noted that journalists can also apply for six-month passes if covering the White House at least 60 of 180 days.”
Under the new rules, according to The Washington Post’s Dana Milbank, almost the entire press corps at the White House failed to meet the new criteria.

There are two ways to look at this. The first, obviously, is that hard passes should be given to those who spend the most time covering the White House. Much has been made about the cult of the celebrity journalist in the Trump administration (coughcoughJimAcostacough) who shows up at the White House during major events or presidential news conferences to preen for the cameras but doesn’t actually do the legwork inside the executive manse.
However, there’s an obvious downside to this: Most of the best White House journalists don’t just report on the president. Political journalists have plenty to cover throughout these United States, particularly during the lugubrious two-year process of nominating a Democrat and then seeing whether he or she can unseat the president.
“As laid forth in the email, the 50 percent rule doesn’t consider that reporters are often out for weekends, vacations, campaign-trail reporting, or presidential trips abroad,” the Washington Examiner’s Steven Nelson reported. “Many outlets, concerned journalists said, rotate reporters from the bureau to the White House to work from their small West Wing desks.”
Furthermore, the 50 percent rule isn’t necessarily new — the White House issued similar guidlines in February of 2017 — but enforcement is.

Completing this poll entitles you to Conservative Tribune news updates free of charge. You may opt out at anytime. You also agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

“After covering four presidents, I received an email informing me that Trump’s press office had revoked my White House credential,” Dana Milbank, a veteran White House reporter, wrote in a Wednesday piece.
“I’m not the only one. I was part of a mass purge of ‘hard pass’ holders after the White House implemented a new standard that designated as unqualified almost the entire White House press corps, including all seven of The Post’s White House correspondents. White House officials then chose which journalists would be granted “exceptions.” It did this over objections from news organizations and the White House Correspondents’ Association.”
Milbank noted that The Post requested an exemption for all eight of its reporters affected; seven of them received one, but Milbank, an administration critic, did not. He wrote that, “The move is perfectly in line with Trump’s banning of certain news organizations, including The Post, from his campaign events and his threats to revoke White House credentials of journalists he doesn’t like.”

See More