President Donald Trump has every right and even the responsibility to point out errors and inaccuracies in news reporting on his administration. But the White House should not have the right to handpick media to cover press conferences.
That's a step down a slippery slope toward state control of the Fourth Estate, which would forfeit its role of government watchdog if journalists from only news organizations that support the president's policies are given access.
President Trump, who had excluded some journalists from his campaign rallies, tacitly endorsed that tactic again Friday when reporters from CNN, The New York Times, BuzzFeed News, The Los Angeles Times, Politico, the BBC, The Huffington Post and selected others were barred from the daily briefing conducted by White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer.
New York Times Executive Editor Dean Baquet said, "Nothing like this has ever happened at the White House in our long history of covering multiple administrations of different parties."
One reporter who was allowed to attend asked Spicer during the briefing whether journalists from CNN and The New York Times had been shut out of the briefing because "you're unhappy with their reporting."
Spicer dodged the question by responding, "Because we had a pool, and then we expanded it. We added some folks to come cover it. It was my decision to decide to expand the pool. "
After the reporter pressed further by noting that there was enough space in the room for other reporters, Spicer got to the point.
"We're just not going to sit back and let false narratives, false stories, inaccurate facts get out there," he said.
The episode came just hours after President Trump had resumed his attack on journalists during a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference. Speaking of newspapers that had published reports critical of him and his administration, he said, "The fake news doesn't tell the truth. ... It doesn't and never will represent the people, and we're going to do something about it."
He also called journalists "the enemy of the people."
To the contrary, professional journalists are trained and committed to serving the people. Journalists are the enemies of any public servant who would shield the truth from the people.
It can be difficult for many Americans to keep sight of the paramount importance of independent journalism when media bashing from President Trump and many other politicians, both liberal and conservative, has become almost a national pastime.
Some have contended that Spicer's barring of selected journalists from the White House daily media briefing Friday was inconsequential: There were no big announcements and, besides, some of the journalists who attended shared their audio recordings and other information with those who had been barred.
But unfiltered access to government meetings and press conferences — whether at a town hearing, in the White House or anywhere in between — is essential to promoting government transparency and assuring that the American people get the truth.