Seventy-three journalists of the White House press corps signed a letter to the Biden administration asking them to stop prescreening journalists for presidential events. They said the process was an affront to the free press and left journalists wondering about the criteria used in the screening. (New York Post, June 30, 2022, by Steven Nelson)
Indicating that the threat of COVID led to the restriction, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the Biden administration was now planning to reopen presidential events to all reporters. (New York Post, July 5, 2022, by Steven Nelson)
Salon reporter Brian Karem wrote the letter. New York Post reporter Steven Nelson, who had found himself among the excluded, recruited a number of journalists to sign it. “We’re worried about the precedent for the future,” says Nelson. “In the next administration, it could be The Washington Post that finds itself essentially blacklisted from presidential events.” (The Washington Post, July 7, 2022, by Erik Wemple)