Then what is the point of their attendance?

If these supposed news organizations are going to allow something as crucial as the identities of the people at the conference to be held "off the record" then what kind of stories are they going to be filing?

Indeed, what's the point of going at all? Is it just to suck up to rich people?

It seems that these days most prominent news organizations exist only to be stenographers to the wealthy. They live forever in fear that they are going to lose access and so don't report the things that they should be reporting on.

Money has become the poison that flows through the veins of the body politic and is slowly choking the life out of it.

So many reporters have become slavish sycophants that do nothing but curry favor from their masters.