Obama Stiffs TV Reporters Entirely During Press Conference

STIFFED: Obama Ignores TV Reporters At Conference
US President Barack Obama (C) arrives to give a press conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, DC, on October 8, 2013, as the crisis over a US government shutdown and debt ceiling standoff deepens. Obama on Tuesday told House Republicans to stop making threats and pass a budget, which would bring an end to a crippling government shutdown. AFP Photo/Jewel Samad (Photo credit should read JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images)
US President Barack Obama (C) arrives to give a press conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, DC, on October 8, 2013, as the crisis over a US government shutdown and debt ceiling standoff deepens. Obama on Tuesday told House Republicans to stop making threats and pass a budget, which would bring an end to a crippling government shutdown. AFP Photo/Jewel Samad (Photo credit should read JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images)

It was like the feeling when a crowd figures out that a pitcher hasn't given up a hit in 5 innings: during President Obama's press conference on Tuesday, everyone suddenly started noticing that he wasn't calling on any television reporters.

This was intriguing; someone from NBC or CBS or ABC or CNN or Fox News can reliably expect to be granted a question, but Obama kept calling on people from places like Roll Call, and the Financial Times, and Agence France-Presse. (He also called on HuffPost's Sam Stein.)

People started noticing:

It wasn't clear how the stiffed journalists were feeling, but, towards the end of the press conference, the normally silent throng started shouting questions at Obama.

"I'm just going through my list guys," Obama said. "Talk to Jay."

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