We Just Became RUSSIA.. Very Very Disturbing, Indeed.

Print Reporters: Odd

Men Out on White

House Plane

By Joe Strupp
Link Here
Published: October 13, 2005 4:09 PM ET

NEW YORK Restrictions on the number of journalists allowed to tag along on advance trips to foreign countries to be visited by President Bush have raised objections from White House reporters, leading to a formal complaint.

The writers contend that new limits, which have cut in half the number of media people permitted to go, curtails their ability to prepare for the overseas excursions.

In the past, up to six media representatives were given space on the White House plane, said Mark Smith, an AP radio reporter and president of the White House Correspondents Association (WHCA). In most cases, the WHCA would divide up the space among four television people, one radio person, and a print reporter. Following the trip, each representative writes up a report for reporters in their designated news field.

"When they are done right, they have a wealth of detail and it is stuff that is next to impossible to gather when you are arriving late one day, covering three presidential events, and leaving at noon the next day," Smith said about the reports. "The TV people write for the TV people, the radio person for radio people, and the print the same."

Now, Smith added, "We continue to be hampered in our efforts to cover presidential travel. It continues to be a huge logistical challenge."

White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan told E&P Thursday that the limitations have not become a permanent cutback, adding that they were necessary for some recent trips due to the use of a smaller plane.

Smith lodged a formal complaint two weeks ago in a letter to McClellan and Dan Bartlett, counselor to the president. "Refusal to carry the full complement of television, radio and print representatives imposes major hardships on each of us," the letter read in part. "We end up with TV producers attempting to hopscotch using commercial flights and cabs, and radio producers attempting double-duty as print reporters." The letter also added that "knocking out news media seats is crippling."

McClellan and Bartlett have yet to respond to the letter, Smith said.

In the last two pre-advance trips -- one held in September and the other this past week -- print reporters have not been able to participate because of space limitations that leave only enough room for the broadcast media. Since print reporters do not require the technical planning that their television and radio colleagues do, they're left out, Smith said.

"It adds depth to what are very quick visits," Smith added about the need for print reporters to be on the advance junkets.

Reached by E&P Thursday afternoon, McClellan said the recent space reductions were needed for the two latest trips because a 757, usually used for such events, was not available. "The decision was made to take a smaller plane and that meant that a lot of people we would normally take were not able to be taken," he said. "It depends on each trip and it affects everyone, not just the press."

He stressed that more media space would be made available for future trips if larger planes are available.

"It is much ado about nothing," he added.

Smith's complaint relates to the advance trips that White House staffers make to each foreign country scheduled for a presidential visit. Usually held a least one month or more ahead of time, the trips are done so that White House security and logistics people can determine exactly how and where to plan every aspect of the trip.

For media representatives, the trips are a chance to both set up technical support and logistics for broadcast, as well as get a flavor of the culture and atmosphere that helps in doing the later presidential coverage. Media personnel always pay their own way for each flight, Smith said, receiving a bill from the government.

Problems began to arise last spring, smith said, when plans were being made for Bush's trip to Brussels. Initially, the White House did not want to allow any media on the advance plane, claiming it was a last-minute event. After some media complaints, six slots were arranged.

Last month, when the advance trip for Bush's early November visit to South and Central America occurred, the reporters got their first real jolt: The White House announced only three media spots, which WHCA said it had to give to TV and radio.

"We agreed to do it, but made clear it was under protest and should not be a precedent," Smith said. That protest apparently fell on deaf ears as the same limits were put on an advance trip this past week to Asia, which Bush plans to visit in late November for the Asia Pacific Summit. WHCA was able to increase the number to four spaces, but still had to give them all to broadcast representatives.

"They said that we had to choose [who would go]," Smith said. "And there are things that the radio and TV people have to do, so they get the priority. This is a reason that we had always gone with a team of six."

Joe Curl, a White House correspondent for The Washington Times who has written a number of advance reports for print reporters, confirmed that the White House has been using a smaller plane (which seats only 22) for the trips. "Nobody is really sure why," he added.

Curl, who also writes for White House Weekly, an independent newsletter circulated among Washington insiders, raised the issue in a column this week. "The White House, already airtight and leak-proof, has once again surprised the beleaguered press corps," he wrote. "This time by eliminating print reporters from foreign 'pre-advance' trips."

Ron Hutcheson, a Knight Ridder White House correspondent and former president of WHCA, called the limits "a little bit strange." He found it odd that a smaller plane would be the reason, given the White House's likely access to large aircraft. "Just recently, they have locked in on this [smaller] plane," he told E&P. "I suspect it is one of those deals where if you add on more seats, you have to move up to a larger plane. The fleet isn't that diverse."

Smith said there we no plans to meet with the White House on the issue, but vowed to "continue protesting."