White House correspondents protest over lack of wire reporters on Air Force One
No wire service reporters, who supply reports to news outlets around the world, were on the plane to the Middle East with President Trump.
The group representing White House journalists said it was disturbed the Trump administration barred wire service news reporters from travelling with the president on Air Force One to the Middle East.
No reporters from The Associated Press (AP), Bloomberg or Reuters were on the plane, where presidents often take questions from travelling members of the press.
“Their reports are distributed quickly to thousands of news outlets and millions of readers throughout the world every day, so all have equal access to coverage of the presidency,” the White House Correspondents’ Association said in a statement on Monday.
“This change is a disservice to every American who deserves to know what their highest elected leader is up to, as quickly as possible.”
The White House has been fighting in court with AP, after the news service was blocked from covering smaller “pool” events when it decided not to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America, as President Donald Trump had called for in an executive order.
In response to a ruling in that case, the White House instituted a new media policy which lumped the wire services in with print reporters in a rotation for space on Air Force One or Oval Office events.
A Reuters reporter accompanied the president when he travelled to Pope Francis’ funeral.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt did not return messages seeking comment.
