WhiteHouse.gov releases covid report

[beej]

Absolutely, can't be too careful. If you saw me driving down the street you'd probably laugh at me and think I was an idiot.

I can't see you, and I still think you're an idiot.

jeskiddin, jeskiddin   

[gcode]

Exactly the reason why we should not have governments censoring speech on the internet.

They are getting crazy in Germany.
I read an article by a German official bragging they have sent over 400 people to prison
for hate speech or hate conduct.
Hate conduct can be as simple as standing on the sidewalk with a German flag during a pro Palestine
rally.
They are also revoking the right to own firearms if you belong to the wrong political party.

[Newbeeee™]

^^^^ UK on average 9 raids per day on people for "hate or anti-gov rhetoric"....

[Bucky Cornstarch]

They are getting crazy in Germany.
I read an article by a German official bragged they have sent over 400 people to prison
for hate speech or hate conduct.
Hate conduct can be as simple as standing on the sidewalk with a German flag during a pro Palestine
rally.
They are also revoking the right to own firearms if you belong to the wrong political party.

I'm trying to remember, which party/administration banned the AP from the White House press pool?

[beej]

They are getting crazy in Germany.
I read an article by a German official bragged they have sent over 400 people to prison
for hate speech or hate conduct.
Hate conduct can be as simple as standing on the sidewalk with a German flag during a pro Palestine
rally.
They are also revoking the right to own firearms if you belong to the wrong political party.

Totalitarianism can come from both the left and the right. People should stand up to the very people they voted for when they see it happening, rather than just complain when the other side does it.

[Smit]

Totalitarianism can come from both the left and the right. People should stand up to the very people they voted for when they see it happening, rather than just complain when the other side does it.

The thing is, nobody ever sees it from their own side. Just the other side, whether it's real or not.

[beej]

I'm trying to remember, which party/administration banned the AP from the White House press pool?

exactly! it's bad precedent and will only come back to bite republican friendly outlets, later. but it's an escalation of what democrats were doing. 

https://www.heritage.org/conservatism/heritage-explains/why-the-biden-white-house-kicking-reporters-out

[CNCAppsJames]

AP needed the boot though. They've ratcheted up their bias all the while claiming "we're not biased". 

Honestly,  BE biased. It's fine. Just stop lying about it.

[Bucky Cornstarch]

exactly! it's bad precedent and will only come back to bite republican friendly outlets, later. but it's an escalation of what democrats were doing. 

https://www.heritage.org/conservatism/heritage-explains/why-the-biden-white-house-kicking-reporters-out

That report, published by a conservative think tank about a conservative reporter working for a conservative news outlet being denied access to a liberal White House is indeed disturbing. It would be great to know what the new rules for White House access were, since the article couldn't be bother to list them. But I agree, restrictions on the press are concerning, regardless of who is responsible.

[Smit]

That report, published by a conservative think tank about a conservative reporter working for a conservative news outlet being denied access to a liberal White House is indeed disturbing. It would be great to know what the new rules for White House access were, since the article couldn't be bother to list them. But I agree, restrictions on the press are concerning, regardless of who is responsible.

Apples and oranges really. Trump kicked the AP out because they didn't change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America.

Trump's takeover of White House press pool selection isn't same as Biden's limits on press pass eligibility

Excerpt:

What the Biden administration did

In 2023, the Biden administration tightened the requirements for the so-called "hard pass," a yearly credential that allows a White House journalist to "come and go at will" when the White House is open, according to The Washington Post. That article listed the revised eligibility requirements under Biden as follows:

    Employed by a news organization.
    Live in the Washington, D.C., area.
    Have gone to the White House for work at least once in the last six months.
    Have a press credential for either the Supreme Court, the Senate or the House of Representatives.

Crucially, one-day press passes still remain available for all journalists, even those who do not meet the above requirements.

According to Politico, the number of hard passes dropped from 1,417 to 975 after the new requirements came into effect simply because many journalists chose to not renew the pass — despite the stricter requirements, only one application was denied. A White House spokesperson told Politico that just before the change that "roughly 40 percent of hard pass holders had not accessed the White House complex in the prior 90 days."

As such, it's misleading to claim that the Biden administration "cut off" the credentials of more than 440 reporters — reporters had the chance to renew their credentials, but some decided not to. It is unclear how many of the journalists who did not renew their hard pass credential did so because they wouldn't qualify under the new guidelines (and again, such reporters could still attend news briefings with a day pass).

Furthermore, because the general public might misunderstand the term "press pool" to mean "the large group of reporters covering the White House" instead of the smaller group of journalists that it actually is, it's also misleading to suggest that a change affecting the requirements for press credentials was a change comparable to giving the White House sole control of the makeup of the press pool.
What the Trump administration did

The Trump administration's decision did actually affect the small rotating group of journalists who travel with the president — or the people that "relay the president's activities to the public," as The New York Times wrote. The press pool, set by the WHCA, has been traveling with the president since Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration in the 1930s and 1940s, according to the organization's website.

The White House's announcement that it would control the press pool itself came not long after the Trump administration barred The Associated Press from the White House for not following its demand to replace the term "Gulf of Mexico" with "Gulf of America." According to The New York Times, the AP was subsequently kicked out of the pool entirely.

[neurosis]

There is a local right wing reporter that is constantly getting himself banned from press events but it's not because they don't want right wing reporters attending. It's because he goes there with the intention of causing problems. He eventually got himself banned from youtube.

The guy was a decent reporter in the past (got himself fired from a local station) but figured out that he could get more attention being an ass. I don't necessarily agree with them locking him out of press events, but I can see why they do.

[Bucky Cornstarch]

Apples and oranges really. Trump kicked the AP out because they didn't change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America.

Trump's takeover of White House press pool selection isn't same as Biden's limits on press pass eligibility

Excerpt:

Yeah, I know that and you know that, but I was trying to be reasonable and further the discussion in a civilized manner. (I know, I know)

When I see people comparing outlets like PJMedia, Redstate, Gateway Pundit and other right leaning propaganda sites to legitimate news agencies that use degreed reporters who actually understand story structure and how to report the news, I shake my head. Further, when confronted with obvious misrepresentations, omissions, and inaccuracies in a particular story, the same people exclaim, "don't criticize the site, criticize the story," I know these people have zero idea how to distinguish between facts and fiction.

[beej]

Apples and oranges really. Trump kicked the AP out because they didn't change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America.

like, I said, it's an escalation.

[beej]

Yeah, I know that and you know that, but

yeah, you guys, have got a monopoly on truth. 

[Smit]

like, I said, it's an escalation.

More like a totally different thing you want to call an escalation but that's the way things are now.