Posted by
ErinHaust on Thursday, October 22, 2009 9:11:40 PM
Officials invited the White House press pool to 5 minute interviews with Pay Czar Kenneth Feinberg to discuss Feinberg's announcement to cut executive pay at at least 7 companies.
The press pool is made up of the 5 major news organizations including CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX. FOX has been a member of the White House press pool since 1997.
Officials invited the entire press corps to the round robin interview process with the express exception of FOX News. The Washington Bureau Chiefs of all of the 5 major networks consulted. The group agreed that if FOX were not allowed to participate, that they would boycott the interview with Feinberg in protest.
The White House eventually relented and granted 2 minute interviews for each network including FOX.
This comes on the heels of several Obama administration officials making the rounds on the weekend talk shows on the other 4 major networks and claiming that FOX News is more like "talk radio" and "not really a news organization" like ABC or CNN.
Bret Bair of Fox News reports the president has granted the following number of interviews by news organization since taking office last January.
NBC: 12 Interviews
CBS: 11 Interviews
ABC: 9 Interviews
CNN: 7 Interviews
FoxNews: 2 Interviews
Obama's predecessor granted 6 total interviews in the same time period.
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