Those of you who have been following the story may already know, but Garrett M. Graff of
fishbowlDC made it into a White House briefing. The AP story in the
S.F. Chronicle leads with this:
With an official credential hanging from his neck, a young man stepped into the White House briefing room Monday as perhaps the first blogger to cover the daily press briefings. He found the surroundings to be dilapidated and cramped and concluded that his morning at the White House was "remarkably uneventful."
fishbowlDC reports:
When we started a week ago with the idea of reporting from the White House, half of the story was supposed to be about the process through which one gains access. Confusion seemed rampant even among those who regularly report from the North Lawn.
Part of our experiment was to test how Jim "Jeff Gannon" Guckert gained access, and we spoke with him to ensure we followed the same general procedure. However, what's hard to say about the experiment is how it was altered by his saga last month. Was the White House more wary of online journalists post-Gannon? Or have they never really cared?
The truth appears to lie somewhere in the middle. Getting in obviously isn't as easy as simply calling the White House and asking, but once contact is established the procedure seems rather simple.
So who can cover the White House now? Who's a journalist in this day and age? Who's legitimate? All still open questions.
Full report post-jump.
fishbowlDC has all of the juicy details in many posts on their home page.