President Obama may or may not get a honeymoon with the news media, but it only took one day for the new relationship to have its first spat.
On Wednesday, as the president spent his first full day at work in the White House, and had a just-in-case second swearing-in ceremony — after he and Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. fumbled some of the words in the official oath of office on Tuesday — the White House denied news cameras the access they have traditionally had to capture such moments.
Instead, Mr. Obama’s staff provided official White House photographs of the event.
But the three news services that would ordinarily send those images to news organizations around the world — The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse — refused to distribute the White House photographs. Michael Oreskes, managing editor of The Associated Press for United States News, dismissed them as a “visual press release.”
Robert Gibbs, the new White House press secretary, tried to patch things up on Thursday afternoon, chatting with the three news services on a conference call. But accounts of the meeting left it unclear whether the Obama administration would grant the traditional access of previous presidencies.
“We’re pleased that the White House press team takes this issue seriously, and they seem open to continuing this practice going forward,” said Howard Goller, United States editor for political and general news at Reuters. But he declined to specify what was actually said.
A person briefed on the meeting, who insisted on anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss it, said the White House had made no promises and had not explained its reasoning for the omission, but had left the impression that it was simply feeling its way, and had not adopted a new stance.
At Mr. Obama’s second swearing-in on Wednesday, a pool of four reporters from the print news media was present, but no pool still photographer or television camera. The photo released by the White House had been taken by its own photographer.
Mr. Oreskes said it was important that the news media produce their own images, and then choose which ones to use.
“There is a time-honored tradition going back many administrations of providing routine access to news photographers to regular, working areas of the White House,” he said, with the exception of closed areas like the Situation Room.
At a briefing on Thursday, Mr. Gibbs was asked about the exclusion of photographers. But he shed no light on either the reason it happened or on what the practice would be going forward.
“I encourage you to speak to any of the four journalists that were in there,” he said. “I think the pool report accurately reflects the event and the time it was in there.”
Instead, Mr. Obama’s staff provided official White House photographs of the event.
But the three news services that would ordinarily send those images to news organizations around the world — The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse — refused to distribute the White House photographs. Michael Oreskes, managing editor of The Associated Press for United States News, dismissed them as a “visual press release.”
Robert Gibbs, the new White House press secretary, tried to patch things up on Thursday afternoon, chatting with the three news services on a conference call. But accounts of the meeting left it unclear whether the Obama administration would grant the traditional access of previous presidencies.
“We’re pleased that the White House press team takes this issue seriously, and they seem open to continuing this practice going forward,” said Howard Goller, United States editor for political and general news at Reuters. But he declined to specify what was actually said.
A person briefed on the meeting, who insisted on anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss it, said the White House had made no promises and had not explained its reasoning for the omission, but had left the impression that it was simply feeling its way, and had not adopted a new stance.
At Mr. Obama’s second swearing-in on Wednesday, a pool of four reporters from the print news media was present, but no pool still photographer or television camera. The photo released by the White House had been taken by its own photographer.
Mr. Oreskes said it was important that the news media produce their own images, and then choose which ones to use.
“There is a time-honored tradition going back many administrations of providing routine access to news photographers to regular, working areas of the White House,” he said, with the exception of closed areas like the Situation Room.
At a briefing on Thursday, Mr. Gibbs was asked about the exclusion of photographers. But he shed no light on either the reason it happened or on what the practice would be going forward.
“I encourage you to speak to any of the four journalists that were in there,” he said. “I think the pool report accurately reflects the event and the time it was in there.”
