White House press secretary Sean Spicer banned reporters from CNN, the New York Times, Politico, the Los Angeles Times and BuzzFeed from attending a “gaggle,” a non-televised briefing, but gave access to a number of other reporters, including those representing conservative outlets. President Obama, for example, invited select columnists to the White House for off-the-record conversations. It is unusual, if not unprecedented, to have a pool of reporters cover a publicly announced White House briefing. Sanders did not explain why the White House picked the outlets it did and rejected the others. “There is nothing to be gained from the White House restricting the public’s access to information.

Source: Washington Post February 25, 2017 00:51 UTC