Former White House Correspondents President Chen: Fox News Seating 'A Travesty'

Allowing Fox News to move up to the first row in the White House briefing room was a "travesty of a decision," according to Ed Chen, the former White House Correspondents Association president who left that post just a few months ago.

Chen, who served as WHCA president for the 2009-2010 term ending in June, made the comments in reaction to Media Matters' call on Monday for a reversal in the decision in light of News Corp.'s $1 million donation to the Republican Governor's Association.

A former Bloomberg White House reporter now with the National Resources Defense Council, Chen said giving Fox the coveted former seat of Helen Thomas brought too much conflict to the seat.

"The vacancy was created because of an ideological conflict," he said, referring to Thomas' anti-Israel comments that led to her resignation. "To fill the vacancy with another cloud of ideological conflict was most unfortunate and inappropriate."

WHCA board members announced Aug. 1 that Fox News would move up to the front row after Thomas' departure.

In revealing the change, the WHCA noted only that a consensus was reached among the board members, without detailing specifics or noting which board members favored or opposed the move initially.

"You had Helen go out on this conflict over politics and a question of fairness," Chen said. "You fill the seat with someone who drags in all of this controversy."

Ron Hutcheson, another former WHCA president who served from 2004-2005 while covering the White House for Knight-Ridder, said "a big political contribution by any news organization raises some questions. Clearly the management of Fox has political views. It raises questions and I don't know the answer."

Chen also challenged the process the board used to come to the decision, noting no vote was released indicating who opposed or favored the Fox News seating: "I think there should have been a total transparency, each member should have stood up and taken a stand."

Former WHCA presidents Ann Compton of ABC News and Mark Smith of Associated Press declined comment when asked. Past presidents Steve Scully and Jennifer Loven could not be reached for comment.

Current WHCA President David Jackson of USA Today rejected the Media Matters request for the Fox seating to be changed, saying: "The decision has been made."

Asked about the problems that could be created by News Corp.'s $1 million donation, he added, "all we did is judge the White House performance by Fox, they do a good job. We called it like we saw it. The board reached a consensus. That is the way it happens."

Julie Mason, a reporter for the Washington Examiner and a WHCA board member, said no vote was taken and said that the board came to a consensus through discussion: "We like to agree among ourselves and there is lots of compromise and discussion. Especially when we deal with controversial things."

She did note that the discussion eventually came down to Fox News versus Bloomberg: "Going into it, I didn't know how it would turn out."

The minutes of the Aug. 1 WHCA board meeting in which the decision was made, indicate the board chose not to take into account any news outlet's political leanings:

It was generally agreed among the members to disregard political considerations in the matter and proceed in a manner guided by journalistic priorities. 

The board agreed informally that reaching a consensus on difficult matters was preferable to taking a series of votes.

The minutes also revealed more insight into the decision-making process:

Don Gonyea [of NPR] informed the other members that, since his own news organization asked to be considered for a vacant front row seat, he would abstain from debate of the first two rows and any votes on the matter. 

A motion was made to move Fox News to the front row. Board members began a debate of the three news organizations vying for the spot, and the relative merits of each proposal. 

Several board members noted that Bloomberg News is a growing, global news organization with a strong presence at the White House. It was observed that Bloomberg employs top-flight journalists and long ago exceeded its original model as a business news outlet. 

Fox News also was discussed. Their contributions to the television pool, the excellent team fielded to the beat and longstanding presence at the White House was discussed favorably. Fox News also is a regular traveler on the beat, shouldering many costs. 

It was noted that NPR journalists are regular contributors to Fox News. The size of NPR's audience also was noted as a strong point in its favor, along with the high-profile, multi-person commitment to in-depth White House beat coverage and regular travel. 

It was also observed, without strong prejudice, that moving NPR to the front row would require a two-row leapfrog by the news organization, while the board felt more inclined to limit moves by any news organization to no more than one row in any direction. 

It was noted around the room that between Bloomberg and Fox, it was a very close call. All the other wire services sit in the front row, along with all the other major TV outlets. Both travel extensively and have maintained a White House presence for more than a decade. 

It was observed and commented upon that Fox makes greater use of the daily briefing than Bloomberg. While Fox frequently uses tape and information from the briefing for its programming, Bloomberg relies more heavily on other sources of news for a great deal of their reporting.  

Some arguments were put forward only to be discarded as noteworthy but not persuasive: That Fox spends more money traveling, that three years ago Fox was reportedly told they were next in line, that the briefing is already too much of a television spectacle, that there were wiring issues associated with different seats. 

A motion was made to move AP to the center seat -- a matter that had been under informal discussion among the board members for some time -- and put Fox in AP's front row seat.  

The board agreed and moved on to the second row. A motion was made to put NPR in the second row seat vacated by Fox. The board agreed.