Unreleased names of media members attending last Thursday’s off-the-record lunch gathering with President Barack Obama at the White House didn't stay hush-hush for long, notes Grumpy Editor.
While many media folks these days find it difficult to stay mum on some events and sensitive material, all lips were sealed on those attending that White House lunch --- until Michael Calderone, writing The Upshot, a Yahoo! News blog, revealed the names of attendees.
Calderone pointed out the “irony that news organizations have been at the forefront of the fight to make White House visitor logs public.”
Meanwhile, a New York Times blog noted, “It may seem odd, but the journalists assigned to cover President Obama on a daily basis often have less access to him than the columnists, television personalities and feature writers who cover the president less frequently.”
It added, “Lack of access for White House beat reporters has become a sore spot between the White House press office and the White House Correspondents Association.”
The New York Times, incidentally, was invited to the off-the-record lunch but declined, preferring a session that allowed on-the-record talk.
The lineup of the 11 attending, compiled by Calderone:
Ben Feller, Associated Press; Jonathan Weisman and Laura Meckler, The Wall Street Journal; Michael Shear and Scott Wilson, Washington Post; Caren Bohan, Reuters; David Jackson, USA Today; Carol Lee, Politico; Peter Nicholas, Tribune Co.; Margaret Talev, McClatchy, and Julianna Goldman, Bloomberg.
Still no indication what was on the luncheon menu.
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