Is this the “change” you were looking for?
The White House had decided in advance who would be allowed to question the President and who was left out.
Presidents are free to conduct press conferences however they like, but the decision to preselect questioners is an odd one, especially for a White House famously pledged to openness. We doubt that President Bush, who was notorious for being parsimonious with follow-ups, would have gotten away with prescreening his interlocutors. Mr. Obama can more than handle his own, so our guess is that this is an attempt to discipline reporters who aren’t White House favorites.
So because some reporters had the nerve to ask difficult or awkward questions, they will no longer be allowed to ask any questions? How long is it before those few reporters “authorized” to ask questions of the President will have their questions sent to them in advance, to be read verbatim at the news conference?
Ingsoc, here we come.
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