White House Press Meeting Yields No Credentialing Changes, Yet (check out day pass requirements)

Editor and Publisher ^ | 02/15/05 | Joe Strupp

[Pikamax]

c

By Joe Strupp

Published: February 15, 2005 5:25 PM ET

NEW YORK Don't expect major changes to the White House press-credentialing process any time soon.

Following a meeting today between the leadership of the White House Correspondents' Association and President Bush's press secretary, Scott McClellan, neither side seemed to be in a hurry to alter the current system, which has drawn criticism amid the recent "Jeff Gannon" scandal.

After a 30-minute sit-down with McClellan, WHCA President Ron Hutcheson said he believed the current system was fine and hesitated to have the correspondents' association play a bigger role in distributing press passes. "I'm not sure we need to do anything," Hutcheson told E&P. "I'm not comfortable in passing judgment on who is a journalist and who isn't. My overriding view is that if I am going to make a mistake, it is going to be on letting people in rather than keeping people out."

But Hutcheson said the full nine-person WHCA board will consider the matter on Feb. 28, and, if the board members want to seek changes to the process or vote to play a greater role in it, he will not stop them. "The board may feel differently than me," he added. "We will go back and tell them what are the criteria."

In addition to McClellan and Hutcheson, the meeting included WHCA vice president Mark Smith of AP Radio and Steve Scully of C-SPAN. Smith said the meeting was aimed at clarifying the current system, not discussing potential changes. "We have not taken any position on it, and [McClellan] did not ask us to do anything," Smith said. "We asked about what if any guidance we could provide in the future and he offered to listen to our ideas."

McClellan did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

The meeting followed the recent uproar over James Guckert, a former White House reporter for Talon News, who had used the name Jeff Gannon and drawn criticism for asking partisan questions. He resigned from his job last week after questions arose about why he had gained press access with a fake name and while representing a news agency with ties to the Republican Party.

Although no changes to the system were discussed at the meeting, some WHCA members had said prior to the meeting that a number of potential changes were being considered. Those included tighter restrictions on who can receive daily press passes, such as those Guckert had obtained, and a more active role by the WHCA in approving requests for credentials, which are now solely handed out by the White House Press Office.

Currently, two types of press passes are issued. The "hard pass," which allows reporters regular ongoing access to the White House, and "day passes," which must be issued each morning and are good only for one day. Hard passes are more difficult to obtain, requiring the reporter to first obtain a Capitol Hill credential, issued by a committee of congressional reporters known as the Standing Committee of Correspondents.

Day passes appear to be available to any reporter who provides his or her name, address, and social security number and the name of his or her news organization, and can pass a basic security check.

Guckert had been denied a congressional press pass last year after the Standing Committee determined that Talon News was not a legitimate news organization. But he was still able to obtain daily White House press passes by applying each day.

Smith requested the meeting with McClellan after the press secretary mentioned last week during a briefing that he would be open to discussing the process with White House reporters after the recent concerns surrounding Guckert.

"I think it is part of their role to address the matter," McClellan told E&P Monday, referring to the WHCA. "There are a lot of issues that are good to talk about with the correspondents."

But Hutcheson said the meeting ended up being mostly informational. "The idea was to find out the criteria for day passes and hard passes," he said. "We didn't ask about what is considered a legitimate news organization. We didn't press him on that because we just wanted to find out how they do it now."

Hutcheson said the group did not want to discuss changes until the entire WHCA board takes up the matter. He had said that perhaps the White House should require that anyone seeking a day pass first obtain a Capitol Hill press pass, which would allow the Standing Committee to pass judgment on a reporter's legitimacy.

[cyncooper]

After a 30-minute sit-down with McClellan, WHCA President Ron Hutcheson said he believed the current system was fine and hesitated to have the correspondents' association play a bigger role in distributing press passes. "I'm not sure we need to do anything," Hutcheson told E&P. "I'm not comfortable in passing judgment on who is a journalist and who isn't. My overriding view is that if I am going to make a mistake, it is going to be on letting people in rather than keeping people out."

Ping

I saw this thread earlier and it just occurred to me you'd be interested in this. Reason prevailing.

[EllaMinnow]

Hard passes are more difficult to obtain, requiring the reporter to first obtain a Capitol Hill credential, issued by a committee of congressional reporters known as the Standing Committee of Correspondents.

Interesting...day passes are given by the White House, but "Hard" passes are given by other correspondents.

Surely Milbank is aware of this, so why then his insistence Gannon had a hard pass? If he did have a hard pass, wouldn't any responsibility for it rest on the Standing Committee's shoulders, and not rest with the Administration?

[cyncooper]

It must be to promote the theory that the WH planted Gannon there and completely bypassed the rules (since a HardPass has a more comprehensive background check).

But as you point out...How, Dana...How? Is he ready to say they FORGED one? And to what purpose? Has he called the Committee to get comment on his allegation?

[EllaMinnow]

Of course not. Dana would rather insinuate for Olbermann, Kos, and the DUmmie fringe than actually make an assertion.

[Howlin]

Over here.

[Howlin]

Those included tighter restrictions on who can receive daily press passes,

Oh, I bet they'd love that!

First of all, what is the White House Correspondants Assocation? Why do they need to be "organized?" Why do they even have a SAY in what goes on in the White House press room.

And here is the list:

List of White House Correspondents

[conserv13]

I don't think its a scandal, but it is kinda funny.

[Williams]

I think McClellan explained to these dopes that they might be happy to be rid of Gannon, but any rules or investigations they start will be ensnaring all the rest of them. Could you imagine a group more likely to have all kinds of kooky skeletons in the closet?

[woofie]

Bingo!!!!!

[woofie]

bump

[woofie]

Here is the latest from the left:

They think Gannon had a hard pass (based on a picture of him with some kind of photo ID) They say he was in the press room before he worked for Talon News....

[Howlin]

BS.

[cyncooper]

As EllaMinnow points out above, that is issued by that Committee, not the WH. How do the lefties explain that?

I'm guessing they'll next say the WH forged it and nobody was wise to it until now.

And to what purpose?

Why, who cares! It's a theory that can be used to bash the WH...onward, HO!

[woofie]

Its about time for the egg on their faces, It looks like they may have managed to detroy a homosexual's life, not exactly what I would call awe inspiring work

[cyncooper]

To add more info on this meeting from a real news source (ahem, since the thread is based on E&P who were the pot calling the kettle black during this whole Talon News bashing fest), here it the Washington Times account:

No new rules

(second item down)

Members of the White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) met yesterday with President Bush's spokesman, Scott McClellan, to discuss the White House credentialing system for reporters, but neither side pressed for stricter guidelines and each is wary of setting new limits on access.

The 20-minute meeting came a week after James D. Guckert, aka Jeff Gannon, a former reporter for the conservative Talon News, resigned amid charges that he was not a legitimate reporter for a bona fide news organization.

The WHCA, which deals with the administration on coverage-related issues, did not use the meeting to press for new guidelines to decide which reporters can get into the White House for daily briefings, reports Joseph Curl of The Washington Times.

"Nobody asked anybody else to do anything, and nobody said they intend to do anything," said WHCA President Ron Hutcheson, who added that no official action was likely at a Feb. 28 WHCA board meeting. "Our general position is to let people in, not to keep people out."

Under nonmandatory guidelines from the Clinton administration, which are sometimes bent by the White House and by news organizations, reporters seeking a permanent White House "hard pass" must:

•Work for a news organization with a Washington bureau.
•Be certified by the organization's executives as a regular correspondent.
•Demonstrate a need to be at the White House on a daily basis.
•Live in the Washington area.
•Be a member of the congressional press gallery.

Mr. McClellan said he reiterated the administration stance in yesterday's meeting that the White House should not be deciding which reporters get in.

"I certainly don't think it's the press secretary's role to get into picking and choosing," he said in a telephone interview.

~snip~

[Alia]

Thanks for the list; I checked it out. I think the WH Correspondants Assocation is "journalism's" own version/form of "democracy". It's along the lines of "running for elections". Names submitted, bone fide's presented, and then Representatives get "selected" to represent the media, as a whole in the briefings.

[Alia]

I think what has happened is: a general concensus that the charges aren't really about Gannon -- ergo, the sense of "putting to rest" the charges -- but rather, the left is gaming, and Jeff Gannon was "useful" to their pursuit. And "cause".