WND is announcing a plan starting immediately to submit questions to President Obama’s press secretary, Robert Gibbs, via the technology of the Internet and e-mail, since his news briefings at the White House so far have been dominated by a select few reporters to the exclusion of the majority.
For example, at a briefing earlier this week there were 79 in attendance, most raising their hands to ask questions. Only 19 were allowed to ask their questions, and several of those were given four or even five opportunities to ask questions.
Les Kinsolving, WND’s correspondent at the White House and one of the more senior journalists in the White House press corps, was not allowed to voice his questions on issues on which millions of WND readers have expressed an interest. In fact, sometimes WND questions submitted to the White House are taken directly from WND’s Mr. President forum, where queries are submitted by readers.
Kinsolving said the fact that he cannot ask a question every briefing is not the point; but the fact that some reporters are given four or five opportunities is.
“Why are so many of us not recognized for even a single question,” he wondered.
The press briefings are complicated by the Obama administration’s reliance on reporters from the front rows of the briefing room. There were complaints about the time of the November election that not only did Obama rely on a few key reporters for questions, those reporters were chosen ahead of time to be allowed to participate.
Additionally, there is a tradition that allows a reporter for Associated Press to say “thank you,” essentially closing down the briefing whether reporters in the back rows have had any opportunity to ask their questions or not.
So WND will submit questions to Gibbs via e-mail, and report on the answer, if there is a response, or the lack of response. The questions will be submitted as they come up, but at least on Mondays and Wednesdays.
The decision comes just as Gibbs has released a list of contacts for 13 people who work on public information for the president, along with four more for the vice president and another three for the first lady.
 Les Kinsolving |
Kinsolving has been a member of the elite White House press corps since coming aboard in 1973, during the administration of Richard Nixon. He later worked with press secretaries for Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.
He also serves as a radio talk show host and has served as a nationally syndicated columnist for 250 newspapers, two of which, in San Francisco, nominated him for the Pulitzer Prize.
Kinsolving took a brief sabbatical from attending the White House briefings when the late Tony Snow was serving as spokesman for President George W. Bush. That was over an apparent decision that Kinsolving would not be recognized during the briefings.
The result at that point was a regular publication on WND of a list of questions for the White House and the response or lack thereof.
Kinsolving later resumed attending news briefings at Snow’s personal invitation.
Snow had been infuriated at times by WND’s repeated questioning of White House plans to respond to public demands for clemency for jailed U.S. Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean.
They were jailed for shooting at and injuring a fleeing drug smuggler who had abandoned a drug load in the United States and was running back into Mexico. WND raised the issue at least eight times at White House news briefings.
On Bush’s last day in office, he announced a commutation of the agents’ sentences, setting them up for freedom nine or 10 years before they otherwise would have been released from federal prison.
Kinsolving suggested that the list of questions be designated OPSEL: for Obama Press Secretary’s Evasion List.
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