ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
The White House said today, it will change the makeup of the press pool. That's the small group of journalists who travel with the President and share information with other news organizations. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the White House will now determine which outlets are in the pool. Until now, the White House Correspondents' Association ran the pool through a rotation of its members. The president of the association wrote that this change, quote, "tears at the independence of a free press." That president is Eugene Daniels, who covers the White House for Politico and is an analyst on MSNBC. Good to have you here.
EUGENE DANIELS: Thank you so much for having me.
SHAPIRO: As a disclosure, I was on the board of the White House Correspondents' Association when I covered the Obama presidency. Explain why you view the White House decision to exert control over the pool as an attack on the First Amendment.
DANIELS: Because at the end of the day, in free countries, like the United States is, leaders don't get to pick the people who cover them day in and day out. The WHCA, our job has been - for many, many years, as you know - to not keep people out. We consistently bring new organizations in, new types of media in, outlets that are right down the middle - which is the vast majority of them - but also outlets that are conservative or left-leaning, right? And so this is about making sure for us - the people who have been handling this the entire time - that reporters are making the decisions about who covers the president, and it's not the government of the United States.
SHAPIRO: Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, in justifying this decision, said, quote, "legacy media outlets who've been here for years will still participate in the pool, but new voices are going to be welcomed in as well." Does she have a point that access for these new outlets should not be restricted?
DANIELS: They weren't (laughter). We have consistently added in new organizations into our actual press pool, definitely into the association, and helped them to understand what it takes to cover. The reason that some of - what she's talking about is these outlets who feel like they haven't been a part of the press pool yet. That is because we have policies and have been created over years to make sure that folks understand how to cover the White House, to help them and their organizations understand the resources it takes to cover the White House. It's not about - like I said, it's not about keeping people out. It's about making sure that the American people have the most - the people who are covering the president of the United States are ready to do that at all times. And that's what the WHCA has done for a long time and has - and this is bigger than the WHCA. This is about the White House press corps and having the right people covering the president of the United States. And that's independent news organizations that aren't chosen by the president of the United States.
SHAPIRO: Do you have any recourse besides using your voice?
DANIELS: You know, at this time, we're using our voice, and we are working with the news organizations to understand what this means. But the logistics of a press pool are difficult. And trying to create that from scratch is not something that is easy. But what we're doing right now is making clear to the American people what's going on - not because we want to be the opposition at all. We're not the opposition. We simply want to do our jobs as reporters. And as the WHCA president, I simply want to make sure that the folks in my organization, and all people that come and cover the White House, have what they need to be able to do so.
SHAPIRO: Just briefly, as long as I can remember, the White House Correspondents' Association has fought over access and transparency. Do you see this as fundamentally different from those kinds of tug-of-wars in the past?
DANIELS: It feels more existential. It does feel a little bit different than the past, right? We've talked about, you know, getting one more person into a news conference. This feels a little bit different to us.
SHAPIRO: Eugene Daniels is president of the White House Correspondents' Association. Thank you for your time today.
DANIELS: Thanks so much. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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