James S. Brady Press Briefing Room. Photo courtesy White House.
The seating chart in the White House briefing room has been updated, with changes including adding conservative media outlets Newsmax and One America News Network (OAN).
In an email to members, White House Correspondents Association president Jeff Mason announced that
“…the board considered multiple criteria during this decision-making process, including regular briefing attendance and commitment to the White House beat. 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. Weighing these and other factors, we worked through what is always a difficult process affecting news outlets, colleagues and friends.”
Newsmax will now have its own seat in the center of the sixth row. Correspondent John Gizzi has been present at most briefings and called upon frequently. OAN will now share a seat with the BBC in the seventh row, as former seat-mate The Boston Globe shifts over to now join CQ Roll Call in their chair.
Other changes in the seating chart include a swap between AP Radio and USA Today. USA Today will now be in the second row, with AP Radio taking the seat in the third row. MSNBC and the foreign pool will trade places in the fourth row, while Christian Science Monitor moves up a row to share a seat in the fifth row with the New York Post, freeing up a seat for The Daily Mail.
The White House Correspondents’ Association, not the White House itself, determines the seating chart in the briefing room.
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