White House press secretary Sean Spicer did yesterday’s press gaggle off camera, which had all of the usual suspects up in arms. Some quick examples…
.@SaraMurray on Spicer off camera gaggle: it was bizarre, extremely short and he looked dejected https://t.co/F4mjppKbqt
— Brooke Baldwin (@BrookeBCNN) May 31, 2017
Spicer briefed under 12 mins
Off camera, audio couldn't be live, no new info on Paris, human rights, ethics waivers, Comey or … covfefe
— Justin Duckham (@Jduckham) May 31, 2017
So now the daily press briefing will he off camera. I guess spicer looks goofy on camera so they will eliminate that problem
— Sinbad (@sinbadbad) May 31, 2017
Well, let’s compare the amount of coverage Sean Spicer gets to that of Josh Earnest in the Obama administration, shall we? Here’s the hand chart from Media Matters of all places that shows just how much more coverage Spicer and the Trump White House is getting than Obama:
This is insane. https://t.co/WNSjJInZ3v pic.twitter.com/3HLSbhvRe4
— JM Rieger (@RiegerReport) May 30, 2017
The next time a journalist bitches about Sean Spicer not appearing on camera, just show them this chart. It’s the cable news channels that have weaponized the briefing, not the administration.
More from the study:
- The three main cable news networks have obsessively covered the Spicer briefings. CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC each aired at least 93 percent of Spicer’s briefing time, compared to only 2 percent of Earnest’s.
- Spicer’s briefings were significantly shorter than Earnest’s — 42% shorter. Spicer’s briefings averaged 45 minutes compared to Earnest’s, which averaged 1 hour and 18 minutes.
- Spicer’s top five, most-called-on reporters were all from conservative-leaning outlets. Five of Spicer’s 10 most-called-on news organizations were conservative-leaning.
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And the top network to ask questions of Spicer? It’s not Fox News (although more conservative outlets are being called on, which is a good thing):
Media Matters studied which news outlets Sean Spicer has called upon. https://t.co/YwYyNKQ8t8 pic.twitter.com/1lmg5JZdho
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) May 30, 2017
According to the schedule, Spicer won’t give any briefing today. Cable news channels hardest hit:
According to the WH schedule, Sean Spicer has no briefing tomorrow — not on camera, off camera, next to a camera, in a bush, with the pope..
— Matt MEET THE PRESS IS SANCTUARY FOR LIARS Negrin (@MattNegrin) June 1, 2017
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