Are Reporters Pushing Back Enough During White House Press Briefings?

[erpowers]

I read a CNN article about the PR effort that the Trump White House was trying to conduct in order to improve Donald Trump's ratings in connection to the Coronavirus issue. In that article it was mentioned that White House Press Secretary Kayliegh McEnany claimed that the Trump Administration focused on bio-terrorism in regard to the National Security warehouse because, as a result of President Obama's foreign policy a bio-terrorism attack was the biggest threat facing the country when Donald Trump took office. The CNN article did mention that McEnany made her claim without providing any proof for the claim. However, I wondered if the reporters in the briefing room had offered enough push back on the issue of a bio-terrorism attack. In general, are reporters pushing back against the talking points of the Trump Administration?

[LakeArenal]

1. No. NO. Definitely NO.

[agingdem]

5. no!!

softball questions, no real followups, no "that's not what I asked you"...no "that's not true"..no "so you think 90,000 dead is a victory?"...no "can you explain why does my grandmother have to die for your economy?...no "bleach and disinfectant...seriously?...

[onecaliberal]

2. No

[NoMoreRepugs]

3. Definitely NOT.

[Snackshack]

4. IMO

I do not think reporters are or have been pushing back nearly enough on what comes out of this WH.

Unfortunately reporters see other reporters from other stations as the competition and i understand that in normal circumstance but this is not normal. the reporters need to come together and act as one against DT and his lies. He and the new Press Secretary can bully one reported but if they all came together and had a united front the WH could not do that. DT is attacking the press in general as a whole as the "enemy of the people". The reporters need to come together as one and push back very very hard against this and if that means they all walk out and leave the room fine. There are other ways the media can get information in DC.

[tanyev]

6. No. It's as if there were a bridge collapse and people were killed and some are still trapped.

The reporter sent to the scene finds a kid who’s furious because the traffic jam is keeping him from getting to his karate class. Reporter spends the entire time letting the kid rant and rave on camera about how unfair this is while the reporter just listens and nods his head. After the reporter throws it back to the studio, the only thing the pundits want to talk about is all the alternate routes the kid’s driver could take to still get him to his karate class.

[safeinOhio]

7. Question for you.

Will the public see his bio-terrorism attack plan before they see his tax-returns?

[MineralMan]

8. No, but reporters generally try not to be the story.

That's part of the traditional ethics of journalism. As a journalist, you are supposed to report the story, but not be the subject of the story.

Maintaining objectivity and keeping yourself out of the story is the tradition.

So, that's what's happening there.

It can be a problem when the person you're reporting on is a dishonest person.

[uponit7771]

11. I've asked a loved one at what point does reporting a person killing a lot of humans stop being ...

... objective?

The person killing a lot of humans is most likely going to lie to justify their actions so one must stay ahead of the lies at minimum I don't see that happening.

They let Trump give absolute numbers for weeks vs relative ones and still are

[choie]

13. That's not the point..

reporters need to ask follow up questions, and if trump refuses to answer the question, the next reporter should ask the same question again and so on. Trump tries to make the reporters the subject, and it's up to the reporter to stand his ground and not be cowed.

[LanternWaste]

14. I think the OP is referring to rigorous follow-up questions

rather than making themselves the story.

In fact, you appear the only one bringing gonzo journalism into the discussion, then only to argue against it.

[blueinredohio]

9. HELL NO!!!

[uponit7771]

10. fug naw, the avg DU poster can ask more informed questions

[Wellstone ruled]

12. F--k no!!!!!!

These are not reporters,they are overpaid Steno's.