Is there any kind of penalty for acting disrespectfully (laughing, leaving the room, shouting “liar”) during WH press conferences, other than possibly being told not to attend any future ones?
from what I recall there is a white house press association that helps to choose who gets in the room and where they sit. I assume the white house can also decide to kick people out and find a new person to fill the vacant spot.
True, but that’s the limit of it; there’s no such thing as “contempt of president”, for instance.
This is the press group that controls who gets into the press briefings. They are independent of the white house.
As W.C. Fields might have said, “The top journalist from every news organization is invited to join a White House press briefing. The worst journalist from every news organization is invited to join all White House press briefings.”
Even though the idea is bandied about every now and then, it would be a pretty extraordinary step to ban a member of the press from White House access. Only a very small percentage of credentialed reporters can attend the daily press briefings. More info here, though a paywall might be involved:
Considering how Trump hates the free press and constantly insults them by calling them “fake” and “liars”, I’d have to say that they are surprisingly respectful.
Indeed. That’s why I was wondering whether they are behaving so civilly because of potential penalties.
That person probably stands an excellent chance of being fired from their job, as the lady that flipped off Trump’s motorcade recently learned.
Wait, do we mean for the reporters, or for the Press Secretary?
He calls them that only when they put out fake bullshit and lies. You neglected that part of it.
I think the only realistic penalty they would face would be never being picked to ask a question. Press secretaries, representing the administration and the President, can hold grudges a long time.
A reporter in that spot may be permitted to remain in the briefing pool, but they’d be stuck listening to everyone else’s participation. Not a good thing for a hard-charging take-charge journalist.
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based on my link above the press room seats 49 people. I’m guessing a lot more places would like a spot in the room.
You specifically asked about White House press conferences. I’ll note that the president has given only one solo press conference himself since he took office, so you must be talking about the briefings given by the press secretary.
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The president (or whoever is giving the presser) can call on whomever they want. If you have annoyed the White House they can freeze you out. That happened to Helen Thomas, the famously feisty UPI reporter who traditionally got to ask a question at every press conference as well as give a sign-off when the president was done. George W. Bush snubbed her and that was that. IIRC she even lost her front row seat and got relegated to a seat in the back.
If you get too disruptive, of course, they’ll escort you out of the room. That said, credentialed reporters have to go pretty far before they get the hammer dropped on them. I remember Clark Mollenhoff, a Pulitzer Prize winner from the 1960s-70s. He had a foghorn voice, and when he decided it was his turn to ask a question he shouted, “MIS-TER PRES-I-DENT!” until he was recognized.
May possibly have been related to her pronouncement that W was the worst president in American history. Not sure if she said that while he was still in office.
From what I recall she got to ask the first question every time before she got snubbed.
Not true.
I’ve had it for months now, even more than from 2000-2008.
But there is no such ‘crime’ as “contempt of President”, so far.