(PM.) More than 440 reporters have lost hard press passes as the White House recently changed requirements to get the hard pass. Many in the corporate news have been silent on the matter in comparison to when CNN’s Jim Acosta lost his pass in 2018.
The rule change took place in May and emails were sent to members of the White House press corps. Portions of the email were posted on Twitter at the time by reporter Simon Ateba, who is the Chief White House Correspondent for Today News Africa.
BREAKING: The @WhiteHouse is changing the rules for press hard passes to target me. But I qualify for all those things as we just filed our taxes, are registered with the District of Columbia and have our address in DC. I studied journalism in college, received two degrees, have… pic.twitter.com/NMvVF4WSaC
— Simon Ateba (@simonateba) May 5, 2023
The emails announced all “press hard passes [would] expire on July 31,” and that journalists will have to “request renewal of [their] current hard pass.” The “hard pass” allows extended access to the White House press corps without going through the day-pass application process.
Over the last three months and after the July 31 cutoff, the number of reporters with access to the White House has dropped 31 percent. There are now 442 less reporters with hard pass access.
Since the rule changes and lower access to the White House press room, many major news corporations have remained silent in comparison to when former President Donald Trump barred Jim Acosta from accessing the White House press room. The corporate media freaked out last time.
CNN, despite having made a lawsuit the last time when Acosta had his pass revoked, has not published anything of the sort calling for the press to retain their passes in light of the new rules.
The last time NPR covered anything having to do with hard passes at the White House was when CNN sued the Trump Administration for suspending Jim Acosta’s hard pass.
