Three news agencies – the Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France Presse – refused to distribute photos provided by the White House, saying their own photographers should have instead been allowed to take photos inside the Oval Office.
“We are not distributing what are, in effect, visual press releases,” said Michael Oreskes, managing editor for U.S. news at the AP.
News photographers contend that the Oval Office is the public office of the president and photographers should have access rather than rely on a government handout. They conceded however that first-day confusion was more at play than an attempt to clamp down on access.
[Via: Associated Press]