White House Press Corps Exposed

Carolina Journal. ^ | February 16, 2006 | Jon Ham

[george76]

Sitting in armchairs waiting for handouts not the best way to get scoops

Members of the elite White House press corps this week have acted more like animals that have been kept in captivity for so long that they can’t find news unless it is forced down their open gullets at a daily press briefing.

The Cheney hunting accident story embarrassingly revealed this fact, which probably explains the greater-than-normal anger and outrage of White House correspondents over the last few days.

“Why weren’t we told?” has been the refrain, not “How did we miss that story?”

The White House press corps does very little news gathering, if by that we mean beating the bushes to find out things.

Instead, they sit in a comfortable auditorium and wait to be told things.

One White House correspondent rarely scoops the others, evidently because the correspondents would rather have the security of getting news handed to them collectively than face the prospect of missing a big story.

Why any self-respecting reporter would want to cover the White House.

Everything was orchestrated.

Nothing was spontaneous.

There was a gentleman’s agreement to make sure no one missed out on a news break, even to the point that, at the end of the day, a light would go on in the press room to alert reporters that they could leave with the confidence that no news would emanate in their absence.

Under that system there was no reward for initiative and no penalty for sloth.

Even if big news were to break while reporters were gone, it was understood that either a) it would be held until they all came into the press room, or b) all would be phoned and notified at the same time.

[Mrs. Darla Ruth Schwerin]

Hilarious cartoon!

[reformedliberal]

IMO, no one gets promoted any longer unless they can at the very least be made up and lit well enough to seem glamorous on TV. I used to think it was just the naturally attractive people who made it to TV, until I began to see some of them in natural light without studio makeup.

Some evenings, I can tell if a particularly talented hair/makeup artist is or is not working by the appearance of the prime time anchor/newsreader/famous pundits. Ditto the person in charge of lighting.

Then there is the game of waiting to see if they can still raise their eyebrows or if they have been Botoxed into immobility.

I think this all happened when color TV was invented. I don't recall it back in the day of B&W TV.

Back in the 1970s, I knew someone who was a buyer for Federated Department Stores. She said she could go to lunch where the models did and if she didn't already know who they were, minus all the makeup and flattering lighting, she couldn't tell them from any other ordinary/attractive person.