Though with an odd twist.
The blogs have become an issue, and access to the White House an issue more generally, in the race for the White House Correspondents Association upcoming elections.
In one corner, is Ann Compton, of ABC News, ABC radio, and ABCNews.com. Here's what she had to say in a statement she issued regarding her race for an at-large seat and the presidency:
Credentialing is still in White House control as it should be. But our voice should be heard. I support a broad definition of White House journalist, including bloggers and columnists.Then there's this statement from Dick Keil of Bloomberg, who is only running for an at-large seat, and who is more suspicious of blogs and new media:
In the interest of full disclosure, I also firmly believe that we need to have tougher standards for admission. To the briefing room in order to avoid another Jeff Gannon situation. I know that the board’s position has been one that grants more access not less. But I think that we do no one an injustice – not our readers, not our colleagues, not the public at large – if we adhere to the same standards employed by the standing committee on correspondents on Capitol Hill: if you can’t prove that you write for a regularly published independent media outlet, you cannot gain access to the briefing or the gaggle.I might add another requirement, Dick. If you can't prove you can write a sentence that isn't a run-on... Just kidding, I feel your pain, my bane is typos. :-)
Anyway, what's interesting about all of this is that Compton is pro-blogger, ostensibly because of the Gannon affair, and Keil is anti-blogger BECAUSE of the Gannon affair. The thing is, Gannon wasn't a blogger. And in fact, it was bloggers (uh hum) who, along with Media Matters, exposed the Gannon story. It would be incredibly ironic if Keil wanted to classify bloggers as non-journalists because of Gannon, which was a story he knows about only because bloggers broke it when most traditional media refused to cover it.
Anyway, still good, I guess, that they're thinking of us.
