White House Correspondents Insider

Behind the scenes of the most powerful city in the world — Washington, D.C. — and those who cover it.

Pew Study: Americans Believe Trump’s Animosity Toward Press Hurts Political Journalism

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Photo courtesy of Pixabay / Geralt.

The animosity toward the media by the President and White House administration is negatively affecting most Americans’ access to accurate political news, according to a Pew Research Study.

More than 80 percent of respondents to the study said the relationship between Donald Trump and the press was unhealthy. This measurement was largely bipartisan, with 78 percent of Republicans agreeing, and 88 percent of Democrats. This belief was also consistent across race, gender, education level and age.

Additionally, 94 percent of respondents said they are familiar with the current relationship between the Trump administration and mainstream journalism. What they know is not comforting: overwhelming majorities say the relationship is unhealthy and that ongoing animosity is hindering America’s access to important political news.

The Pew study was conducted over the phone with 4,151 Americans between March 13 and March 27. Pew did not inquire respondents about how the tension should be resolved.

No White House Staff Will Attend Correspondents’ Dinner

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Correspondents’ Dinner place setting. Photo courtesy Haddad Media.

There will be no representative from the White House at this year’s White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner. The Trump administration announced late Tuesday that White House staff will not attend this year’s Dinner out of “solidarity” with the president.

WHCA president Jeff Mason of Reuters sent a letter to the organization stating that “[t]he White House informed the White House Correspondents’ Association this evening that White House staff will not be attending this year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner out of ‘solidarity’ with President Trump, who has previously announced that he would skip the event.”

The president announced on Twitter in February that he would not attend the annual dinner. But various White House figures had been rumored to be planning on attending, such as Vice President Mike Pence, Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, and Press Secretary Sean Spicer.

“Only the White House can speak to the signal it wants to send with this decision, but our signal is clear,” wrote Mason. “We will celebrate the First Amendment on April 29 and look forward to acknowledging the important work of our terrific members and awarding scholarships to students who represent the next generation of our profession.”

The White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner will be held on April 29 at the Washington Hilton. Proceeds for the event go toward scholarships for exceptional students in journalism.

First Lady Names Stephanie Grisham as Communications Director

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Photo courtesy Wikipedia.

Melania Trump has named Stephanie Grisham as Special Assistant to the President and Director of Communications to the First Lady. In this role, Grisham will lead all communications on behalf of the First Lady.

“Stephanie is a wonderful addition to the team. She brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the job, and will be an incredible asset to my office as we build out our agenda, preserve our country’s rich traditions, and serve the American people,” said the First Lady in a written statement.

Grisham currently serves as Deputy Press Secretary in the White House, transitioning to the First Lady’s office in the coming weeks. She was the former press secretary for the Arizona House of Representatives and has over a decade of experience working in communications, logistics and media relations. During the campaign, she was responsible for securing and running the campaign’s press plane, which travelled independently of then-candidate Donald Trump.

“I am honored by the opportunity to serve as the First Lady’s Director of Communications,” said Grisham. “Mrs. Trump’s life story is an inspiration to millions of mothers and female entrepreneurs, and to me personally. I deeply respect and admire her commitment to our country, her family, and to the important role of the First Lady. I look forward to helping her communicate her unifying message of kindness and empowerment.”

According to recent reports, Melania Trump will move to the White House from New York City in June, after the school year for her 10-year old son ends.

Facebook Launches New Alert to Fight Fake News Articles

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Photo courtesy Pixabay.

Facebook has begun utilizing a third-party fact checking tool to warn users attempting to post web pages with “disputed content.” The company hopes this alert will assist in the battle against fake news.

Partnering with verified third-party sources such as Snopes or the Associated Press, attempts to post stories that have been fact-checked and concluded wrong will prompt a red alert stating the article has been disputed. Clicking on that warning will bring up a pop-up window with more information “About disputed content.”

“Sometimes people share fake news without knowing it. When independent fact-checkers dispute this content, you may be able to visit their websites to find out why,” the alert reads. “Only fact-checkers signed up to Poynter’s non-partisan code of principles are shown.”

The Poynter code encourages a high standard of excellence in transparent fact-checking and non-partisanship for journalists.

Users ignoring the warning and posting fake news articles will receive a second pop-up stating the article has been disputed. The user may still post the story, although it will appear on others’ timelines with the warning such as “Disputed by Snopes.com and Associated Press.”

Facebook’s fake news alert will be implemented with the help of five independent fact-checking resources: ABC News, Associated Press, FactCheck.org, Polifact and Snopes.

Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, admitted his site should be held to a higher standard in the fight against fake news than the average person.

“We’re a new kind of platform for public discourse – and that means we have a new kind of responsibility to enable people to have the most meaningful conversations, and to build a space where people can be informed,” Zuckerberg wrote in a post on his own Facebook page.

Former House Intelligence Committee Chair Mike Rogers Launches Web Series “World War E”

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Kristi Clemens Rogers, Mike Rogers at 2016 White House Correspondents’ Garden Brunch. Photo courtesy of Haddad Media.

Former Congressman Mike Rogers, a world-renown cyber-security expert and former chairman of the U.S. House Intelligence Committee, announced he will be hosting a new on-demand digital series highlighting the rapidly growing worldwide cyber threat, titled “World War E.”

This short-form digital series will be built around Rogers first-hand knowledge of the global cyber threat and the U.S. preparation and defense against attacks from individuals, foreign agents and governments, and terrorists.

Says Rogers:

“I often tell people that America is in a cyber war and I’m not sure we’re winning. It is an extremely serious issue, because it’s no longer just criminals seeking to steal your money but it is now countries who are using their militaries and intelligence services to steal your information, to ruin American companies, and to damage our critical infrastructure. This is an important topic that affects us all and it’s time that the conversation is brought directly to the American people.”

Early topics include the front lines in the battle for cyberspace, threats to infrastructure and critical American services such as health care and energy, how individuals can protect themselves from their own daily digital footprint online, and even how to prevent future attacks.

“World War E” will be hosted on NY Daily News website (http://nydn.us/WorldWarE), with the first episode, “Cyber War,” premiering Wednesday, March 15. New episodes will post Wednesdays at 11 AM EST. The show is produced by Ora TV, the on-demand digital network behind shows such as “Larry King Now.”

In addition to “World War E,” Rogers also hosts a radio show and is the host of Declassified on CNN.

President Trump Calls Media “Rude” Following Conway Interviews

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Photo courtesy of Pixabay / Edar.

President Donald Trump tweeted Monday that journalists and news outlets have been rude toward administration officials. He said if journalists begin treating administration officials nicely, “you will do much better.”

While not referencing any specific interview or story in his tweet, the president’s reaction follows several interviews conducted by presidential advisor Kellyanne Conway Monday morning.

George Stephanopoulos asked Conway on ABC’s “Good Morning America” to explain her statements Sunday to the Bergen Record suggesting President Obama had used household electronics such as smart phones and televisions to spy on Trump. Conway said she had no evidence to back up her claims, but was speaking broadly about surveillance, not specifically toward any allegation against Obama.

Facing a similar line of inquiry on CNN’s “New Day” – which has largely been boycotted by the administration in recent weeks – Conway said proving claims was not her responsibility.

“I’m not Inspector Gadget. I don’t believe people are using the microwave to spy on the Trump campaign. However, I’m not in the job of having evidence. That’s what investigations are for,” Conway told CNN host Chris Cuomo.

Conway also faced inquiry about her statements on NBC’s “Today” show. Host Savannah Guthrie asked Conway, “can I stop you right there? The media did not bring up this topic. President Trump did.” Conway responded saying the media was focused too much on wiretapping accusations and not on other issues “that the American people want to hear about.”

Brig Graff Appointed Vice President of Strategic Solutions at Zignal Labs

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Zignal Labs CEO Josh Ginsburg. Photo courtesy Haddad Media.

Brig Graff has accepted a new position of Vice President of Strategic Solutions at Zignal Labs.  In this role, he will work with Zignal’s enterprise customers to create and implement solutions that address challenges to corporate communications and marketing.  Graff makes the move to Zignal Labs after working at firms such as Adobe, Omniture, Captora and Domo.

Josh Ginsberg, CEO of Zignal Labs, said of the new appointment:

“Our customers view media intelligence as a strategic asset to building stronger brands.  We are excited to have Brig join our team and drive innovative solutions into the marketplace that help our enterprise customers succeed.”

Zignal Labs empowers corporate communications, marketing and executive teams understand trends and hot topics through analyzing the full media spectrum in real-time.  Based in San Francisco and with offices across the country, Zignal assists clients such as Airbnb, IBM, Bacardi and FleishmanHillard.

President Trump’s Address to Congress Draws Over 40 Million Viewers

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Photo courtesy likedavid / Pixabay.

According to data provided by Nielsen, President Donald Trump’s initial address to a joint session of Congress reached approximately 43 million television viewers.

Networks such as ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox aired the address live, as did cable news channels including CNN, MSNBC and Fox News.

Comparatively, President George W. Bush’s first address to Congress in 2001 was watched by approximately 39 million viewers, while President Barack Obama’s initial Congressional speech in 2009 averaged approximately 52 million.

More people watched this week’s joint address than President Trump’s inauguration speech, which drew an average of 30.6 million viewers. The inauguration speech was conducted at noon on a Friday, while his address to the joint session was conducted during prime time on Tuesday evening.

The channel C-SPAN is not included in Nielsen measurements, nor does the firm measure viewers that streamed the speech online.

Major Media Banned from Friday’s White House Q&A

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James Brady Press Briefing Room, 2007. Photo courtesy Wikipedia.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer’s Friday question-and-answer session will occur without major news outlets such as Politico, CNN, the New York Times, BuzzFeed and the Los Angeles Times.

Instead of the standard on-camera briefing in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room, Spicer instead held an off-camera “gaggle” inside his West Wing office.  Attendees were welcomed to the session by invitation only.

Some major news organizations were also let in, such as ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, Reuters and Bloomberg.

Jeff Mason, the White House Correspondents’ Association president, blasted the situation.

“The WHCA board is protesting strongly against how today’s gaggle is being handled by the White House.  We encourage the organizations that were allowed in to share the material with others in the press corps who were not.  The board will be discussing this further with White House staff.”

The White House has not commented on the situation.

President Trump Ignores Mainstream Media at White House Press Conferences

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Photo courtesy Wikipedia.

At the three most recent press conferences held by President Donald Trump, he has exclusively called on conservative-leaning firms and sites for questions.

On February 10, during a joint conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Trump called on the New York Post and Fox Business News.  Three days later when taking questions alongside Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Trump picked Sinclair-Broadcasting-owned WJLA and the Daily Caller to ask questions.  And on Wednesday when appearing with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump chose the Christian Broadcasting News and Townhall.com.

Neither CBN nor Townhall.com asked President Trump about national security advisor Michael Flynn’s resignation or the slew of reports about contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian intelligence agents.

Mainstream media journalists have been locked out from directly asking Trump any questions at all.  CNN’s Jim Acosta voiced a question about Russia, which the president ignored.

Reporters have been blasting the president and Spicer both for avoiding difficult questions by cherry-picking only favorable, conservative sites.

Typically, past presidents have traditionally called on the Associated Press for the first question in a press conference, followed by major news organizations.

Spicer himself has taken questions from some mainstream outlets such as USA TODAY, ABC News and Reuters, although he has called on right-leaning media such as Breitbart, the Daily Mail and the Washington Times, far more frequently.