About 100 White House reporters gathered for a Town Hall Meeting on July 10, 2017. We met at the White House Historical Association headquarters, next to the New Executive Office Building. There were many issues to thrash out, and the topics are amazingly complex-and political!
One of the more controversial topics involved press credentials for access to the White House. To gain admission to the (now dwindling) number of briefings, you need a coveted “hard pass.” They are typically renewed every two years. I have been fortunate enough to have been granted hard passes since 1968. With it we are waved through the gates and have security screening before proceeding to the very crowded press quarters of the White House. In my early days of coverage, there were no security screenings, which sometimes led to scary and dangerous situations.
(One time we were tear gassed during a visit by the Shah of Iran!)
If you have not been approved for a hard pass, you must be cleared before hand and escorted in by staff members. The waiting time can sometimes be long, and log jams develop. But the staff and Secret Service guards are usually friendly and efficient.
To become a pass holder, White House reporters must first be admitted to the press galleries in the U.S. Congress. Then we apply to the White House. In the early days, we were examined and finger printed, which I think is a good thing. But the process gets murky after that. Capitol Hill reporters get swept up in their busy rounds, and their requirements are different than ours. Their staff and guards also do an excellent job, but they are different.
Some of us believe the elected, volunteer members of the White House Correspondents Association should have the final say in the approval of White House reporters. Perhaps some professional members of the White House staff could also review credentials. We do not want anyone who is tied to a party, or who can be bribed by lobbyists or others. We do not need czars to dictate who is or who is not a journalist. This could be the era of citizen journalism, but it should not be the era of fake news!
Credentials do not just apply to the White House of course. The State Department, Pentagon, state and city governments have their own rules and criteria, as do businesses and universities. They must be protected from theft and cyber terrorism.
We need new rules in this “brave new world.” But everyone should be able to express themselves, and the freedom of the press must be protected. Terrorists and fake news advocates should not have those freedoms! We also need more access to cover events and ask questions. We need to speak “more truth to power.” Fortunately, we do a pretty good job in this country, but we can always do better!
(Connie Lawn has been covering the news since 1968, and is the senior White House reporter. Her book can be bought on line – it is “You Wake Me Each Morning –the Final Chapter”)
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