The White House cancelled its usual press conference Nov. 20, and instead invited establishment media to attend a closed-door briefing about the president’s unprecedented offer of work-permits to millions of foreign workers.
The 45-minute event was held in a room near the White House’s press room, just before midday.
The attending journalists were told they can’t release the information until 6.00.
The attendees included some independent reporters from major outlets, including Ed Henry at Fox News, ABC’s Jon Karl and CBS’ Major Garrett. Most of the media at the event were from outlets, including The New York Times, Politico, The Hill and The Washington Post, which have not provided critical reporting of the president’s planned executive order.
The Daily Caller was not invited. Other popular outlets, such as Breitbart, National Review, The Weekly Standard, and TheBlaze were also excluded.
The White House also held a conference call for reporters at 2:00 pm, which was embargoed until 6:00 pm.
Administration officials accepted questions from regional media and from the media site Vox, as well as from the progressive outlet Think Progress.
The regional media invited to ask questions included the Las Vegas Sun, the Los Angeles Times, the Dallas Morning News, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and the Arizona Sun.
Callers were forced to identify themselves before they were selected by officials.
None of the reporters on the call asked about the impact of Obama’s amnesty on American workers, and or about public support for the unpopular amnesty. Instead, the questions asked about the benefits provided by the president to illegal immigrants, and why Obama set some limits on benefits.
The Daily Caller was not invited to join the media call.