The new rules mean that accredited journalists working at the White House must make appointments in advance to meet with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt and other staff members. This effectively means that reporters will no longer have the same access to officials.
According to the Security Council, the changes are being made to protect sensitive material that, since the reorganization of the government, is more routinely handled by the White House communications staff.
Criticism from journalists has not been long in coming.
“The new restrictions prevent the press from asking questions of officials, ensuring transparency and holding the government accountable, which harms the American people,” said Weijia Jiang, president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, in a statement, according to the New York Times .
Journalists' transparency into the work of the government has decreased since Donald Trump took office as president in January of this year.
As recently as October, the Pentagon also introduced new rules for journalists.
In short, they require journalists covering the Pentagon to promise to publish only approved information, which effectively rules out the use of anonymous sources, and not to move freely around the building. Several prominent American media outlets have refused to sign.
In February, the White House announced that it would begin selecting which media outlets would be included in the rotating press pool that covers the president on a daily basis. The pool previously had a rotating schedule determined by the media themselves.
