https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/06/where-have-all-the-cameras-gone/530916
No cameras = no proof of what they said to show they were lying.
No cameras = no proof of what they said to show they were lying.
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They're phasing out the on-camera press briefings
- Thread starter Loren Pechtel
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Elixir
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Audio recordings ok?
Jimmy Higgins
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No. We are watching a Democracy die.
Not exactly. The first newspaper on this continent was printed in 1690, long before cameras and tape recorders.
The real disadvantage in this goes to Spicer. He has no way to prove he didn't say the words that are quoted. His real motivation here is to make the SNL writers have to work for a living.
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The end is nigh!
Opoponax
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This way they can deny anything. And conservative voters are eating it up. So yes, the Trump administration is rotten to its filthy fucking core, but the Americans who support this are even worse.
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bilby
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The end of on-camera briefings is not a cause for the demise of democracy, any more than a funeral is a cause of death.
Accountability has died, so on-camera briefings are no longer of any value. The rulers of your country no longer care what the people think, so it's no longer valuable to them to spend time talking to the press.
Accountability has died, so on-camera briefings are no longer of any value. The rulers of your country no longer care what the people think, so it's no longer valuable to them to spend time talking to the press.
Not completely wrong. This article puts forth a clearer argument:
https://newrepublic.com/article/113949/end-white-house-press-briefing
Would there be a great deal of wailing about this [ending the briefing]? Yes, there would be. The daily briefing is seen as one of the last toeholds from which the press corps can try to keep the White House accountable, so eliminating it would be seen as Nixonian, even Stalinist, depending on one’s bogeyman of choice. But reporters who’ve actually endured the sessions day in and day out, if not quite ready to endorse abolition, concede that the institution has wildly outlived its utility. “Everybody thinks it’s so great, because it’s a chance to grill people and put them on the spot,” Jennifer Loven, another former chief White House correspondent for the AP, told me. “And that’s all great in theory, except that it doesn’t happen that way. Nobody really gets put on the spot. What you get in the briefing is a reply, not an answer.” Adds Peter Baker of The New York Times: “The White House decided a long time ago that it’s not about candor; it’s about deflection and survival. The press decided it’s about preening.” When I called up Fournier, he needed little prompting to expound on the problems. “It really has become useless,” he said. “We are now pawns in a reality show. I’d rather spend that hour and a half taking someone to coffee or calling or e-mailing someone to get a better sense of something important—you know, doing my job as a reporter.”
The briefings (WH, State, and less frequently, Defense) are, by and large, an utter waste of time; "reply, not answer" is exactly what all of the spokespeople are out there to do. Listening to a full briefing - not just the edited clips - is fucking agonizing. Nothing of any relevance is ever said except when someone fucks up, so basically all the spokespeople try to do is not fuck up. But even that's incredibly taxing for them, and is why most don't last very long.
That said, while there's no logical argument to be made that the briefing is valuable because it yields answers, there is something to be said for watching charlatans and bullshit peddlers like Sean Spicer embarrass the shit out of themselves trying to defend the indefensible. So while I certainly don't think we need daily press briefings of any sort, getting rid of it altogether, which is clearly what Trump wants, would be going too far.
whichphilosophy
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You have an awful lot of press briefings in the USA. It seems a good idea to reduce these somewhat and/or reduce the time for each one.
A world leader should not spend a lot of time in press conferences. I noticed in the UK such events are rare but it depends on the situation.
Opoponax
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Daily White House communications through the Press Secretary, to the media, has been how our Presidents have kept the public informed for decades now... oh fuck this. You'll make any excuse for this goddamn regime.
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So, in the UK, the only person that talks to the press is the Prime Minister?
The press never references 'a spokesperson for' any ministry or the PM's office?
Huh. Seems it would make your government pretty opaque.
I'd be willing to bet you guys have about as many press briefings as we do. Probably more, if you include traditions like the guy showing his red briefcase to the press when he submits the budget...
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Let's be clear. These are not informative briefings.
They are spin.
No reporter needs it to write about what the government is doing.
They are spin.
No reporter needs it to write about what the government is doing.
whichphilosophy
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Don't you mean
Daily White House communications through the Press Secretary, to the media, has been how our Presidents have kept the public misinformed for decades now... oh fuck this.
Jimmy Higgins
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Let's be clear, they are getting rid of briefings because they can't handle the briefings. This isn't some sort of "Well, briefings are just antiquainted these day" decision. It is "Donnie! They are grilling me out there!"
whichphilosophy
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That's correct. Either the government misrepresents what it is doing or the press does (especially pro-government press).
whichphilosophy
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A lot of people talk to the press. We also have parliament on TV since anything thing the government does would have to go through this. Having a budget usually once a year is less time consuming than once a day.