Posted on 03/15/2017 3:29:18 PM PDT by mdittmar
WASHINGTON (AP) — A reporter from a conservative-leaning website is the only media representative accompanying Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on his trip to Asia this week.
The website, the Independent Journal Review, said late Tuesday that IJR reporter Erin McPike is the lone journalist traveling with Tillerson on his tour to Japan, South Korea and China. The State Department confirmed the account. The trip is taking place amid escalating tensions with North Korea.
The department had said that Tillerson would not take journalists with him as he was traveling on a small plane.
(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...
Good question. Certainly not jealous.
I wouldn’t exclude human nature...
Nothing to stop the media from buying their own tickets to Asia.
The following is from a few days ago, State Dept Q&A briefing.
MODERATOR: Thanks. And – excuse me – yeah, David, so, as you know, members of the U.S. media are going to be traveling commercially to all three locations – Japan, Korea, and China – in order to cover the trip. And we’re going to provide transportation, lodging, and logistic support on the ground to try to accommodate and ensure that they can cover the Secretary. I mean, all of you know, essentially, that we’re taking a much smaller plane, and so the Secretary’s overall footprint in terms of who he can accommodate or who we can accommodate on the plane is somewhat limited.
[...]
And with respect to whether there is any space for press on the plane, I just can’t speak to that at that time – at this time definitively. Again, we’re still trying to iron out the logistics and finalize the logistics for who’s on – actually on the plane. But I think going forward, as I said yesterday, it’s going to be a priority for this Secretary to try to include a contingent of media on his future trips.
https://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2017/03/268355.htm
Note how the State Department is “provid[ing] transportation, lodging, and logistic support on the ground” for the press. Just not having them fly on the same plane.
I wonder if the smaller plane is because they don’t trust that the normal SoS bigger plane is bugged.
>>I wonder if the smaller plane is because they don’t trust that the normal SoS bigger plane is bugged.<<
Probably they’re taking a smaller plane so they can say they’re not taking the press on the plane with them because they’re using a smaller plane.
This is a great reminder that the SoS job description does not include preening for the cameras and issuing a statement every time the world has a hangnail. Very refreshing, after the Pantsuit/HorseyFace tag team.
Yep. John Foster Dulles can finally stop rolling in his grave.
What little I know about diplomacy would include that the best talks with a potential friend would not be in front of a camera. Tillerson seems like a person that has his best moments with others in more private settings. He has a record of results negotiating business deals with other nations. His style needs to be encouraged.
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