White House Correspondents' Association cedes control of pool reports to Trump administration

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Politico

02/26/2025 09:12 PM EST


Reversing decades of precedent, the White House Correspondents’ Association announced Wednesday that it would no longer coordinate shared coverage of President Donald Trump in an escalating dispute over press access to official events. The association, which represents more than 60 news organizations that regularly cover the president, said it would no longer manage the rotating cast of reporters who attend White House events or compile the shared accounts of news that are widely used in American political journalism.

“This board will not assist any attempt by this administration or any other in taking over independent press coverage of the White House,” WHCA President Eugene Daniels, a POLITICO journalist, said in a statement to association members. “Each of your organizations will have to decide whether or not you will take part in these new, government-appointed pools.”

Their decision came after the White House, angered over coverage of the administration, has excluded certain organizations from news events in what the correspondents association see as retribution that undermines freedom of the press under the First Amendment and exceeds familiar tensions between presidents and the media.

Daniels told members to stop sending reports to an association listserv that allows their work to be shared by other journalists, as the White House had now taken control of the process. The “WHCA cannot ensure that the reports filed by government-selected poolers will be held to the same standards that we have had in place for decades,” he wrote.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/26/white-house-correspondents-association-pool-reports-trump-administration-00206385

---

It looks like this is more of a "protest" and refusal to promote propaganda (via manufactured pools). They need to stop allowing themselves to be spoon fed bullshit and regurgitating it without question. I.e., this paragraph from the OP excerpt sums that up -

Daniels told members to stop sending reports to an association listserv that allows their work to be shared by other journalists, as the White House had now taken control of the process. The “WHCA cannot ensure that the reports filed by government-selected poolers will be held to the same standards that we have had in place for decades,” he wrote.

[Lovie777]

1. Don't matter............

the truth comes out daily.

[sop]

2. Lapdog Media

[dem4decades]

3. White House Correspondents Association? Nope, White House Cowards Association.

First they came for the Associated Press, but I did nothing

Then they came for the Huffington Post, and I did nothing

............... you know the rest,

I don't think there's a group I loathe more

than these cowards.

[tanyev]

4. All legit media should boycott the press pool.

Donny won’t be happy until all press pool coverage is fawning propaganda, so they would either have to play along or get kicked out, too. There will not be any actual news coming from official events, so start looking for it elsewhere.

[creon]

5. Not standing up

Thr Roll has been called.

That Organization has not stood up.

[mdbl]

6. Why bother going at all? They are just spreading more lies

Nothing of value comes from the White House right now anyway.

[kacekwl]

7. Please, please show some

integrity and just don't show up. All you're getting is lies and propaganda. SMH

[peggysue2]

8. A captured press

All part of the plan. See Orban's Hungary.

Orban is the darling of the Alt-right's fever dreams, dreams they're putting into action against the American citizenry.

[Raftergirl]

9. There are many ways to get news what is happening in the regime than from the administration. I for one, would

love nothing better than not reading their propaganda everywhere.

[GoreWon2000]

10. Our country's founders are rolling in their graves

The founders of our country believed that a free press was essential to safeguard democracy. The founders believed that a free press would keep the citizenry well informed on what the government was up to. The founders never imagined that most of our media would be owned by big multi-national corporations who don't support democracy.

[BumRushDaShow]

11. The caveat though

is that "the founders" also made sure that only a subset of people could vote, where those they considered "inferior" (women, the enslaved non-Europeans, poor immigrants including those from Europe) would not be part of the decision-making through the franchise. When that changed, it ended up including the scum of the earth types like the MAGats.

[GoreWon2000]

12. Your points are all true

but they did believe in a free press as I previously noted and that now free press owned by big multi-national corporations is failing our country at every turn.at a time when a free press is needed more than ever.

[BumRushDaShow]

13. And it is the media's problem for giving up their "right"

But there ARE many non-corporate media outlets out there and it's a matter of the citizenry supporting them versus the sellouts.

I know back during the founding period, there were plenty of "sellout" (and scandalous) media. I remember ending up down the rabbit hole reading about some of that press - including that published here in Philly where the founders hung out.

[GoreWon2000]

14. The media is bowing to its corporate masters