The media meltdown is hilarious. Maybe they should fill out a butt hurt report.

White House bars CNN, N.Y. Times, others from press briefing

Spicer's in-office event leaves riled outlets depending on pool information

Bob Unruh

Some reporters given the privilege of covering the White House on Friday erupted in anger when a briefing plan was changed so that a limited number of reporters met in spokesman Sean Spicer’s office, rather than everyone assembling in the larger briefing room.

And no matter the reason for the change, which excluded a number of network and other reporters, it became a flashpoint in the mainstream media’s long running campaign to oppose and criticize President Trump.

After all after the election campaign, in which a majority of reporters essentially provided a cheering section for Hillary Clinton, there was the stunning conclusion even in mainstream outlets such as CNN, the Washington Post and New York Times that the media was all in for the Democrat – and against Trump.

It hasn’t improved since the election and inauguration, either, with daily charges from the White House of “fake news” coming from well-known outlets.

On Friday, the clash flared into white-hot flames, after Spicer held what Washington media insiders know as a “gaggle,” an off-camera briefing with a White House spokesman that, for any of a number of reasons, doesn’t include every reporter.

Get your copy of “Takeover: The 100-Year War for the Soul of the GOP and How Conservatives Can Finally Win It,” and find out what Richard Viguerie believes is a winning formula for conservatives, and the U.S., at a special price right now!

They are common, for example, on Air Force One, where not all regular Washington reporters travel with the president. However, in attendance at all such events is a “pool,” a designated team of reporters representing all media outlets, and providing details to all.

On Friday, when Spicer held the gaggle in his office, Fox News, ABC, NBC, pool reporters and others were allowed in.

But CNN, the New York Times, the Hill, Political, RealClearPolitics, BBC and others were left out.

The media cast the issue negatively in chorus fashion.

“White House blocks news organizations from press briefing,” claimed CNN.

The Hill said, “White House hand-picks select media outlets for briefing.”

Politico reported, “White House selectively blocks media outlets from briefing with Spicer.”

The New York Daily News said, “White House bars Daily News and many other outlets from press briefing after Trump threatens to ‘do something’ about the media.”

Benjamin Mullin at the Poynter Institute characterized it as a rebellion by reporters “after the White House excluded CNN and other outlets from attending” the gaggle.

Mullin noted Trump’s “stinging” critique of the media at the Conservative Political Action Conference earlier Friday, and said the reporters from Associated Press and Time boycotted their reporting jobs “in solidarity” with their colleagues.

Poynter noted that Jeff Mason, chief of the White House Correspondents’ Association, was protesting.

“The WHCA board is protesting strongly against how today’s gaggle is being handled by the White House,” he said in a prepared statement. “We encourage the organizations that were allowed in to share the material with others in the press corps who were not. The board will be discussing this further with White House staff.”

There was less than zero tolerance from some quarters for the reporters’ whining.

“Boohoo: CNN releases smarmy statement about being blocked from White House media gaggle,” appeared immediately on Twitchy.

Said the report, “Reads a little like a scorned girlfriend, does it not? And as you might expect, Twitter didn’t exactly feel sorry for the media giant … you could even say people all but mocked their pain.

One commenter, JEF, said, “@CNNPR … You haven’t reported facts since Nov 8th when your pony lost!”

After a contentious relationship with the media, who largely supported Clinton’s campaign against Trump, up to and including financial donations, Trump had repeatedly called out individual organizations for their “fake” news.

Shortly after the inauguration the White House floated the idea of moving the press briefing completely away from the White House, enraging reporters who have come to consider it their right to occupy portions of the building.

Spicer also started taking questions from reporters outside of the Washington locale, through Skype, and even started granting other news outlets the first question during briefs, a privilege that AP had claimed as its own for decades.

CNN said it was “unacceptable” that Spicer would choose which reporters he would meet with on a particular day.

Dean Baquet, of the New York Times, told Poynter, “Nothing like this has ever happened at the White House in our long history of covering multiple administrations of different parties. We strongly protest the exclusion of the New York Times and the other news organizations.”

The Daily News charged, “It seems to be a calculated decision, possibly aimed at getting reporters to focus on inside-the-Beltway stories about the White House blocking access and playing games rather than bigger stories on what major actions the Trump administration is carrying out.”

The fracas included a sort of a confrontation in the White House, the Daily News said.

“CNN, the Daily News and others gathered to ask for an explanation of who was being allowed in, and White House spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham accused the reporters of ‘threatening’ her when one reported said that we would be filing stories about the issue,” the report said.

The Hill continued, “After some reporters voiced their frustrated (sic) with the arrangement, Grisham asked a uniformed Secret Service officer to tell them to leave the hallway.”

Even the media’s reporting on the confrontation was challenged as “fake.”

Grisham explained in a statement that reports that “outlets were excluded are not factual.”

“The pool was there, so various media mediums were represented.”