On Monday morning my DC media gossip blogger for mediabistro, Garrett Graff began his quest for a White House press pass for the daily gaggle, which Scott McClellan, following the Jeff Gannon/James Guckert scandal, had said any qualified reporter could easily get by going through the normal procedures. After four days of calling and faxing, the White House press office issued Garrett a pass, making him the first blogger to get credentialled by the White House for the daily press briefing. It wasn't easily gotten, but it was gotten nonetheless. (Garrett's coverage here: day one, day two, day three, day four, and day five.)
Garrett's impressions:
All-in-all it was a very surreal day--anti-climatic almost even. Something similar happened to bloggers attending the conventions last year: There was a big to-do beforehand and then their writing all seemed sort of pedestrian after all the hype. They were the biggest news they came across.
Indeed we spent almost as much time being interviewed by the regular White House press corps yesterday as we spent interviewing them. In fact, at times we felt it was so meta that Marc Ambinder and the Note had to be guiding our day: We were being interviewed by reporters about what it was like to interview them about them interviewing the White House.
Garrett also had a conversation with Scott McClellan afterwards, the most interesting takeaway of which was this: He doesn't read blogs.
More coverage here, and a gratuitous screengrab of Garrett on MSNBC (via Trey Jackson).
· White House approves pass for blogger [NY Times]
· Blogger in the White House [WaPo]
· Bloggers blag way into White House [Times of London]
· Gannon comments on first blogger at WH briefing [E&P]
· A blogging first at the White House [MSNBC]
· OnPoint: West Wing for a day [NPR]
· White House admits 1st blogger to briefing [AP]
· White House admits blogger to press room [UPI]
· Blogger wins White House pass—for a day [AFP]
And my personal favorite, from ABC's The Note (where Garrett interned):
"Garrett Graff a. k. a. "Stretch Junior" joins the White House press corps for a day. We knew him when& like when we assigned him to quickly digest a steamy Lynne Cheney novel moments before Mrs. Cheney's husband was announced as the vice presidential pick of Gov. Bush. Mr. Graff didn't complain"
Congratulations, Garrett!
Posted by espiers at March 8, 2005 06:52 PM