Conservative media outlets gain seats in White House briefing room

thehill.com ^ | 6/30/17 | Brandon Carter

[ColdOne]

Conservative media outlets have more official seats in a new White House briefing room seating chart released Friday.

The updated seating chart sees conservative news organizations Newsmax and One America News (OAN), as well as British newspaper The Daily Mail, with designated seats. Newsmax and the Mail have their own spots, while OAN shares a seat.

None of the organizations had a spot under the previous seating chart, adopted in 2015.

The New York Post now shares a seat with the Christian Science Monitor, both organizations that previously held their own seats. The new chart also gives a seat to Westwood One radio, which it did not previously have.

In an email to the White House press corps announcing the seating changes, White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) president Jeff Mason said the WHCA board considered multiple factors in making changes to the previous seating chart.

“The board considered multiple criteria during this decision-making process, including regular briefing attendance and commitment to the White House beat – we did not want scarce real estate going unused,” Mason said.

“We also looked at news outlets’ audiences, both in terms of reach and in terms of preserving (or in some cases adding) diversity in the briefing room. We took stock of the changing landscape of our industry.”

[bankwalker]

Then bring in Clint Eastwood to talk to the empty chair.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I can’t stomach NPR. Our local WPR isn’t too bad - good gardening shows. I see a ‘theme’ here, LOL!

[mrsmel]

I can’t deny that I used to love Justin Wilson’s Cajun/Creole cooking show, but hopefully as I was just a kid, I could be excused a little bit. Haven’t watched PBS in decades now.

[Cobra64]

If it were up to me, I would have the Secret Service escort anyone with CNN or MSNBC credentials off the White House grounds.