White House blocks news organizations from press briefing
by Dylan Byers, Sara Murray and Kevin Liptak @CNNMoney
February 24, 2017: 3:47 PM ET
CNN and other news outlets were blocked Friday from an off-camera White House press briefing, raising alarm among media organizations and First Amendment watchdogs.

The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Politico and BuzzFeed were also excluded from the meeting, which is known as a gaggle and is less formal than the televised Q-and-A session in the White House briefing room. The gaggle was held by White House press secretary Sean Spicer.

In a brief statement defending the move, administration spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said the White House "had the pool there so everyone would be represented and get an update from us today."

The pool usually includes a representative from one television network and one print outlet. In this case, four of the five major television networks -- NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox News -- were invited and attended the meeting, while only CNN was blocked.

"This is an unacceptable development by the Trump White House. Apparently this is how they retaliate when you report facts they don't like. We'll keep reporting regardless," CNN said in a statement.

The White House press office had informed reporters earlier in the day that the traditional, on-camera press briefing would be replaced by a gaggle in Spicer's office, reporters in attendance said.

Asked about the move by the White House Correspondents Association, the White House said it would take the press pool -- including one television, one radio and one print outlet -- and invite others as well.
Read more @ http://money.cnn.com/2017/02/24/media/cnn-blocked-white-house-gaggle/index.html