News Agencies Balk at White House-Provided Photos

President Barack Obama Taking the Oath of Office Again

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]

Published by Chris Malinao

Chris teaches Lightroom as workflow software to photography students at the FPPF, Federation of Philippine Photographers Foundation. He also teaches smartphone photography.