All Joking Aside, Here’s How Sean Spicer Is Shaking Up the White House Press Briefing
In the past, White House press secretaries tended to prioritize the reporters sitting in the first two rows.
They would give the first question to The Associated Press (after decades of starting with Helen Thomas, long known as the dean of the White House press corps). Then it was on to the major networks, newspapers and other wire services.
Mr. Spicer has bypassed this convention.
As he goes around the room, Mr. Spicer typically calls on media organizations outside of the mainstream before getting to more traditional news outlets.
.. The first briefing question of Mr. Spicer’s tenure went to a New York Post reporter who wrote a book that was critical of Bill and Hillary Clinton. LifeZette, a website founded by the radio host Laura Ingraham, was first in the second briefing.
Reporters from conservative outlets like Breitbart, One America News Network and Newsmax are regularly tapped for questions.
..Raghubir Goyal, who says he is affiliated with a news organization called India Globe and whose tendency to veer off topic has been used by previous secretaries to defuse tense moments, has been called on twice.