Don't know about anybody else, but for me, the 7p White House press briefing was a highlight of a most memorable day. In a thirty-plus year career in network broadcast news, I covered and monitored thousands (yes, thousands) of White House press briefings. They were part of the rhythm of my life for decades. Something that I took for granted.
I remembered Jen Psaki from her previous postings at the State Department and the Obama White House. To see her familiar face in a familiar role was a comforting reassurance that, as Jerry Ford once said, our long national nightmare is over. And the search for the “money cut” from the WH briefing would resume.
For four years, those of us who spend our lives trying to fulfill our roles in a free society by reporting on the actions of our elected officials and government were attacked as “enemies of the people,” and manufacturers of “fake news.” Finally, on January 6th, some were physically attacked and their equipment attacked and destroyed.
The indispensable role of a free press in our society was best expressed by Justice Hugo Black 49 years ago — the year after I got my first White House Press Pass — in a case that established the people’s right to know over the whims of the President…
“The press was to serve the governed, not the governors. The Government’s power to censor the press was abolished so that the press would remain forever free to censure the Government. The press was protected so that it could bare the secrets of government and inform the people. Only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government.”
For the past four years, the occasional press briefings were airings of imagined grievances, insult sessions, and dispensaries of newtold lies. And that’s on the rare occasions these follies were held.
When Jen Psaki began to enumerate the executive orders signed by President Biden on his first day of office, I instinctively wanted to reach for a pen to take notes, and look for the “money cut” — the short one or two sentence nugget that best distilled the story.
And then, when she finished her review of the President’s actions and plans for the next day, Jen moved to the next part of the briefing with six words that meant more to me than words can say…
“I’d love to take your questions.”
For me, that’s when the fireworks began. I never imagined that those six simple words would shake me to the core.
The press was to serve the governed. Not the governors. And now, once again, we have an administration that respects the First Amendment, the free press, and the governed.
The daily White House press briefing is back. And I will never again take it for granted.
