Bloggers and the Briefings

After reading in MSM accounts of the Guckert affair that day passes to White House briefings were easy to get, blogger Garrett M. Graff decided to try to get one himself. His early efforts were stonewalled. But then:

He made 20 phone calls and got nowhere. Bigger blogs picked up on his saga, and traffic on FishbowlDC increased tenfold, he said. But it was not until the traditional media joined in, Mr. Graff said, that the White House relented.

"USA Today started making calls on Thursday. CNN mentioned it on 'Inside Politics,' and Ron Hutcheson, president of the White House Correspondents Association, raised the issue with the White House Press Office," he said. "I think a combination of all of that made the White House pay attention and decide to let me in."

Scott McClellan, the White House press secretary, said he had met with the White House Correspondents Association and they had decided to let Mr. Graff in. "It is the press corps' briefing room and if there are any new lines to be drawn, it should be done by their association," he said.

Notice what has happened here. The MSM has graciously lobbied to allow a blogger to enter the sanctum of the White House Press Room, and at the same time they get a guarantee from the White House that they, not just the White House, will control all future access. So, if in the future a blogger wants to attend White House briefings, he or she will have to be vetted by the MSM as well as the White House.

Read about it here.

Mr Graff's blog, FishbowlDC, is here.