WHNPA members Charles Dharapak of the Associated Press and Brooks Kraft, a freelance photographer and contributing photographer to TIME Magazine, appeared on MSNBC The Daily Rundown with Chuck Todd. The two experienced photographers discussed the continuing problem of the Obama Administration’s exclusion of photojournalists from White House events while instead real easing only official government photos.
On November 21st the White House Correspondents’ Association 38 news organizations, including the White House News Photographers Association, sent a letter to White House Press Secretary Jay Carney protesting the use of official White House photos while excluding independent photojournalists from White House events and generally limiting access to the President and the Executive Branch in unprecedented ways. The letter states, “As surely as if they were placing a hand over a journalist’s camera lens, officials in this administration are blocking the public from having an independent view of important functions of the Executive Branch of government.” Dharapak and Kraft appeared on the MSNBC show to further explain the practical problems of not having independent coverage of the United State’s top office.
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