(scroll down, second topic)
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.
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This is so damn petty that it makes me sick.