Assigned media seats in the White House’s James S. Brady Press Briefing Room will reportedly soon be decided by the White House rather than the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA), marking another major shake-up in the briefing room.
Axios co-founder Mike Allen first reported on the White House’s intention to take over the seating chart, citing a senior official in the administration:
How it works: Discussing the coming seating chart, the senior White House official said plans have already been formalized for a “fundamental restructuring of the briefing room, based on metrics more reflective of how media is consumed today.”
- The new layout will include representatives of TV, print and digital outlets. The digital assignments will include both online influencers and newer organizations such as Axios, NOTUS and Punchbowl.
“The goal isn’t merely favorable coverage,” said the official, who was granted anonymity to discuss plans that haven’t been announced. “It’s truly an honest look at consumption [of the outlets’ coverage]. Influencers are important but it’s tough because they aren’t [equipped to provide] consistent coverage. So the ability to cover the White House is part of the metrics.”
According to Allen, an administration official said that a WHCA member suggested that the organization could change its bylaws to make the press secretary the president of the WHCA, as some members hope to ease tensions between the association and the White House. Currently, Politico’s Eugene Daniels is the WHCA president.
The anticipated move comes as the White House has already taken several steps to make the briefing room and the president more accessible to new media as the establishment media’s footing continues to slide.
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For one, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced at the first briefing that there would be a “New Media” seat reserved for “new media voices who produce news-related content and whose outlet is not already represented by one of the seats in this room.”
Breitbart News Washington Bureau Chief and Axios’s Allen were the journalists to occupy the New Media seat during the initial briefing, and received the first questions of the briefing, which were traditionally given to the Associated Press.
Furthermore, since taking control of the press pool scheduling from the WHCA, the White House has added a “New Media” slot to the pool.
