Dear Jen – Submitted by White House journalist Brian Karem
Website: https://www.justaskthequestion.com
IMCNews publisher Dr. M. Anthony Harper note: This following journalist complaint letter about restricted White House press access is addressed to the current White House Press Secretary Jennifer Psaki written by White House journalist Brian Karem that I and other news reporters are co-signers on. “Dear Jen; I’d like to address your new press policy regarding access to the White House and particularly in the briefing room. The new policy solves a problem that doesn’t actually exist. Not one reporter in the White House has transmitted the coronavirus to another in a year. Overall the infection rate has been minimized because we’ve policed ourselves very well. Some of us, like myself, pay for our own testing. We wear masks and socially distance. The problem, prior to this administration’s arrival was in the White House staff. They never wore masks or bothered socially distancing and as a result they got sick. Even then, the press rarely did – though we were in close proximity. I am also concerned about the decision to use the WHCA as a gatekeeper. The White House has delegated to the WHCA the responsibility for determining which journalists can access the White House on a daily basis. The WHCA is conducting a lottery to distribute access to the COVID tests you now demand in order to work on the White House campus. As you know, the WHCA is made up of White House correspondents – journalists who cover the White House and the government generally. Journalists should never act as government agents – deciding who actually has access to the White House complex and when. The Secret Service does this quite well and there have been several court cases that address this issue. Moreover, it would be a mistake to think that the WHCA speaks for all journalists or even all White House correspondents. Further, the idea of allowing just 80 reporters into the complex seems arbitrary. While I have no reason to doubt what you told me, that the number was reached by talking to experts, that doesn’t really answer the question. An email from the WHCA says “Press access on the White House complex is limited to 80 members of the media at any one time.” Is it 80 at a time or a day? Who is keeping track of people as they go in and out? This is a horrible position to put the WHCA board in as they all have regular jobs to do as well. It is also disconcerting to see members of the Board shuffling through the Brady Briefing room and the working office space acting like cops trying to enforce your standards. If you’re going to test everyone, have 150 tests provided and ask reporters to act as responsibly as they have in the last year, and you will have few problems. Crews rotate in and out. Some people come to the White House simply to shoot a standup, or to type up a story, or meet a source and then leave. The actual number who stay all day is nowhere near 80 these days. Again, we’ve effectively policed ourselves. There is no need for anyone to fix this. And, the idea of limiting people to standing outside for a good portion of the day – except to use the restroom facilities – is incompatible with the weather, human and professional needs. I’m sure you don’t want people to gamble on getting pneumonia versus the covid virus. I would also like guidance on when the restrictions will be lifted and what the specific criteria for that would be? Since we’ve never passed on an infection to another reporter, and our infection numbers have been far lower than the White House or the general public for that matter, it seems we’ve already met any reasonable expectation to handle ourselves professionally during a pandemic. Personally, instead of saddling the WHCA with additional responsibilities for which they shouldn’t and actually don’t have authority, and which may include conflicts of interest and possible First Amendment violations, the White House should simply reconsider the policy or test more of us. After all, on another point, the policy is a potential public relations nightmare. How good would it be to have a reporter videotape the moment when a member of the White House staff tries to roust them from the White House or denies them access even if they have a hard pass? It’s not a good optic. As I said Wednesday, the press policy regarding access by the Trump administration was one of the few things Trump’s team did that actually worked. The protective pool got tested. The rest of us came and went – wearing masks and limiting our time on campus as needed. On occasion the Trump administration opened up briefings to east room appearances or in the Rose Garden. On those occasions, the expanded venue allowed for additional seats which were provided to those reporters who weren’t in the press pool. For the last year the restricted pool and a select few others who the WHCA board approves, with no posted standards or method of determination, have been given various degrees of access to the briefing room and the president himself. Everyone else has been frozen out. As a result people in our business face the very real possibility of losing their jobs if they lose access to the White House. That’s a fact. The best solution to this problem would be to limit the access in the fashion the Trump administration did – and give us quantifiable standards when the sanctions will be lifted. In addition, on occasion, (perhaps once or twice a week) the briefings (particularly when Dr. Fauci is talking about the very serious problem of the pandemic) should be moved to the theater in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building or to a similar venue in which larger numbers of reporters can attend and social distancing can be more easily maintained. Thanks for your time. Yours, Brian J. Karem Also signing on: Hugo Lowell, Jake Turx, Christian Datoc, Andrew Feinberg, Tejinder Singh, Ksenija Pavlovicc, Bricio Segovia, Matthew Anthony Harper In addition, I’ve spoken with two dozen other reporters who want to sign on, but must first seek permission to do so from their employer. I will file those with you as they become available. ”
