News Orgs Balk At Romney Campaign Deciding Press Pool Membership
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Some reporters and editors expressed concerns that the Republican's presidential campaign, rather than news organizations, would determine who joins the press pool. Traditionally, journalists in the pool decide who among them will produce reports they all share. The White House Correspondents Association, for example, decides who to admit and makes a rotating schedule of reporters to cover the president each day. All members of the association share the reports. The White House does not decide who covers the president as part of the rotating pool.
So far, the Romney traveling press corps hasn't had a formal, rotating pool system, instead sharing coverage of events on a situational basis, such as if the candidate mets with supporters in an area too small for a crush of reporters.
But now that Romney is the presumptive nominee, the press corps will begin pooling fundraisers in public spaces, like Wednesday's night's event at a Pentagon City hotel. Eventually, there will likely be three pool reporters -- national print-web, TV networks and wire services -- following the candidate wherever he goes each day, similar to how White House pool reporters trail the president everywhere, from a bill signing to the golf course.
Last week, the Romney campaign asked reporters who travel regularly to assemble a pool, according to reporters. There are five national print organizations that regularly travel with the campaign -- The New York Times, the Washington Post, Politico, the Los Angeles Times, and the Wall Street Journal -- so they'd clearly be in the pool. Reporters then also decided to extend an invitation to a few other news organizations who also travel with the campaign, albeit less frequently. That group includes BuzzFeed, Yahoo! News, the Boston Globe, and The Huffington Post.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/02/romney-campaign-media-press-pool_n_1472610.html