Thirty-eight media organizations wrote a letter to the Obama administration to protest limits placed on photographers attempting to cover White House events. The White House is releasing its own official photos taken by their staff.
The protest letter read, “As surely as if they were placing a hand over a journalist’s camera lens, officials in this administration are blocking the public from having an independent view of important functions of the Executive Branch of government.” (Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, November 21, 2013)
Writing for the National Journal, November 21, 2013, Ron Fournier sees the censorship as a dangerous trend, “Obama’s image-makers are taking advantage of new technologies that democratized the media, subverting independent news organizations that hold the president accountable. A generation ago, a few mainstream media organizations held a monopoly on public information about the White House. Today, the White House itself is behaving monopolistic.”
The administration responded to the criticism by opening some bill-signing events to the list of events open to photographers. (Broadcasting & Cable, November 22, 2013, by John Eggerton)
The USA Today reacted to the administration’s restrictions by refusing to publish official photos done by the White House staff. (Huffington Post, November 26, 2013)
“As surely as if they were placing a hand over a journalist’s camera lens, officials in this administration are blocking the public from having an independent view of important functions of the Executive Branch of government,” the letter read. – See more at: http://www.rcfp.org/browse-media-law-resources/news/media-organizations-oppose-limits-photo-access-white-house#sthash.BjBBZlWA.dpuf