Vatican cancels live broadcast of Biden greeting pope
Source: AP
The Vatican on Thursday abruptly canceled the planned live broadcast of U.S. President Joe Biden meeting Pope Francis, the latest restriction to media coverage of the Holy See. The Vatican press office provided no explanation for why the live broadcast of Biden’s visit had been trimmed to cover just the arrival of the president’s motorcade in the courtyard of the Apostolic Palace, where a Vatican monsignor will greet him.
Cancelled was any live coverage of Biden actually greeting Francis in the palace Throne Room, as well as the live footage of the two men sitting down to begin their private talks in Francis’ library ... It is during those moments in the pope’s library that reporters can view the gifts that are exchanged, watch as the formal photograph is taken and overhear remarks as the leaders arrive and depart to get a sense of how the pope and his guest have gotten along. Only the pope’s official photographer and Vatican video journalists are now allowed in.
The Vatican said it would provide edited footage of the encounter after the fact to accredited media.
The Vatican correspondents’ association has protested the cancellation of such pool access and several media outlets, including The Associated Press, formally complained about Thursday’s cut of the live Biden-pope broadcast and asked for an explanation.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-pope-francis-europe-world-news-religion-d07155e1386a6edd78206ea13139b89a
The White House spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, was asked about the limited media access to Biden’s audience and said the administration was “working through every lever we have” to get more access. “We believe in the value of the free press. We believe in the value of ensuring you have access to the president’s trips and his visits overseas,” Psaki said during a White House briefing.
Noting that Biden was a guest and the Vatican the host, she added: “I can’t offer you a guarantee, but I can guarantee you we will continue to advocate.”
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The regular Biden-haters will blame him personally for this (along with every other thing that's out of his actual control.) It will be seen as just another opportunity to shit on his administration, and to falsely portray him as incompetent (or breaking promises, or failing to be "transparent", blah-blah-blah.)
