New White House press secretary debuts with bluster and a bang

There’s a new White House press secretary, and a new way of doing things, according to that new White House press secretary.

Karoline Leavitt, 27, the youngest White House press secretary ever, announced a notable and very much symbolic change to the briefing room in her debut press conference on Tuesday.

She started by taking a few digs at the media, saying the American people have lost trust in them, adding, “We know for a fact that there have been lies that have been pushed by many legacy media outlets in the country about this president, about his family, and we will not accept that. We will call you out when we feel your reporting is wrong or there is misinformation about this White House.”

So about that big change. The White House Correspondents’ Association is typically in charge of the seating in the briefing room, but Leavitt said that a seat usually reserved for White House staff now will be given to “new media.”

Leavitt said, “My team will review the applications and give credentials to new media applicants who meet our criteria and pass United States Secret Service requirements to enter the White House complex. … We welcome independent journalists, podcasters, social media influencers and content creators to apply for credentials to cover this White House.”

She added, “Whether you are a TikTok content creator, a blogger, a podcaster … if you are producing legitimate news content, no matter the medium, you will be allowed to apply for press credentials to this White House. As long as you are creating news-related content of the day and you’re a legitimate independent journalist, you’re welcome to cover this White House.”

Leavitt also said the White House would restore press credentials to 440 individuals whose passes were “wrongly revoked” by the Biden administration.

A couple of quick thoughts about this new media change.

One, no one should have any problem with nontraditional media types having access to the White House briefing room. Whether it’s podcasters or bloggers or whatever, to dismiss them as not real media or not to be taken seriously is imperceptive. Leavitt was absolutely correct when she said “Americans are consuming their news media from various different platforms, especially young people.”

And she added, “As the youngest press secretary in history, thanks to President Trump, I take great pride in opening up this room to new media voices to share the President’s message with as many Americans as possible.”

That’s all well and good.

The caveat, however, is if the White House new spots are given to those who are merely Trump and MAGA sycophants who call themselves media just because they carry a microphone or a laptop. If that’s the case, the idea of a “new media” seat is counterproductive. In the end, these are press conferences, not pep rallies.

Leavitt also was asked a question that previous press secretaries have been asked: Would she pledge to not lie to the American people?

Leavitt said, “I commit to telling the truth from this podium every single day. I commit to speaking on behalf of the president of the United States. That is my job. And I will say it's very easy to speak truth from this podium when you have a president who has implemented policies that are wildly popular with the American people — and that is exactly what this administration is doing.”

She wasn’t done, as she then took more swipes at the Biden administration and the media. She said, “It's correcting the lies and the wrongs of the past four years. Many of the lies that have been told to your faces in this very briefing room. I will not do that. But since you brought up truth-speak, I would like to point out, while I vow to provide the truth from this podium, we ask that all of you in this room hold yourselves to that same standard.”

The Washington Post’s Jeremy Barr reported, “After beginning the briefing with pleasantries, telling a packed room of assembled journalists that ‘it’s an honor to be here with all of you,’ Leavitt leveled several criticisms of the media and tussled with multiple correspondents. In doing so, Leavitt harked back to the combative dynamic that was ever-present during the first Trump administration, when press secretaries Sean Spicer and Sarah Huckabee Sanders clashed regularly with journalists.”

On CNN, media reporter Brian Stelter called Leavitt’s debut performance “incredibly smooth.” He said, “Move over, Sean Hannity. President Trump has a new No. 1 publicist, right? The TV president has just minted a new TV star.”

However, to be clear, Stelter wasn’t necessarily praising Leavitt’s words or message. He accurately pointed out that Leavitt exaggerated — a tendency her boss has a knack for, and surely what he expects from his main spokesperson. For example, she said Trump has an “overwhelming” mandate, suggesting Trump won the election in a landslide, which simply is not even close to true.

Like her predecessors, including now-Fox News host Kayleigh McEnany, you get the sense already that Leavitt isn’t there to necessarily speak honestly and transparently to the American people through the media, but to push Trump’s agenda.

As Stelter smartly put it: “She is there for an audience of one, and in that way it was incredibly effective.”

In another head-scratching moment, Leavitt was asked about Trump signing an executive order to end birthright citizenship, Leavitt told reporters, “This administration believes that birthright citizenship is unconstitutional.”

Uh, birthright citizenship is literally in the U.S. Constitution.

Leavitt then closed her first press conference by going on a rant ripping former President Joe Biden over the price of eggs, after earlier taking other petty personal shots at Biden

It’ll be interesting to see just how much we see of Leavitt. When Trump was in the White House the first time, we saw plenty of McEnany and, before that, Sarah Huckabee Sanders. However, we saw very little of Stephanie Grisham, who actually never held an official White House press conference during her 281 days in the position.

During Biden’s presidency, we saw regular press briefings with Jen Psaki and, more recently, Karine Jean-Pierre. Then again, Trump often talks with the press in Q&A-type sessions, while Biden rarely did.

Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday, “So look, the president is the best spokesperson that this White House has. And I can assure you that you will be hearing from both him and me as much as possible.”

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Acosta out at CNN

It’s now official. Anchor Jim Acosta is leaving CNN after nearly 20 years.

This comes as no surprise. Acosta, who had been hosting a mid-morning program, recently was left off CNN’s revamped schedule. There were reports that he was being offered a midnight Eastern show — a seemingly insulting offer that the network surely must have guessed he would turn down.

So, yeah, he turned it down. In his Status newsletter late Monday night, Oliver Darcy reported that Acosta was considering an exit from CNN. On Tuesday, it became official.

Acosta said on air that Tuesday was his last day. Shortly after, he announced the start of a new project on Substack. However, we can assume Acosta will shop his services to other news outlets.

Of course, one can’t help but wonder if Acosta’s harsh criticism of Trump over the years led to CNN trying to bury him with the graveyard shift, especially with Trump now returning to the White House for the next four years. During Trump’s first administration, Acosta and Trump verbally tangled in the White House briefing, leading to Acosta’s press credentials being suspended. A court order backed Acosta and the Trump White House restored his credentials.

The New York Times’ Benjamin Mullin wrote, “Mr. Thompson told Mr. Acosta that it had nothing to do with Mr. Trump’s inauguration, adding that Mr. Acosta’s slot would be in prime time on the West Coast, and offered to relocate him, the people said. But they were at an impasse.”

Acosta clearly was talking about Trump during his farewell signoff. He said the highlight of his career was covering President Barack Obama’s trip to Cuba in 2016 and asking Cuban leader Raúl Castro a question about political prisoners.

Acosta told viewers, “As the son of a Cuban refugee, I took home the lesson — it is never a good time to bow down to a tyrant. I have always believed it’s the job of the press to hold power to account. I’ve always tried to do that at CNN and plan to go on doing it in the future.”

He added, “One final message: Don’t give in to the lies. Don’t give in to the fear. Hold on to the truth and to hope, even if you have to get out your phone, record that message, ‘I will not give into the lies. I will not give in to the fear.’ Post it on your social media so people can hear from you too.”

In a statement, CNN said, “Jim has had a long, distinguished, nearly 20-year career at CNN, with a track record of standing up to authority, for the First Amendment and our journalistic freedoms. We want to thank him for the dedication and commitment he’s brought to his reporting and wish him the very best in the future.”

Voice of America about to get the Trump treatment?

For this item, I turn it over to Poynter media business analyst Rick Edmonds.

Just in time for the Super Bowl, a spirited political football matchup is brewing. The pigskin in this case is the government-funded Voice of America, a broadcast outlet that reaches an audience of 354 million a week.

In his roster of agency heads who seem to hate the enterprises they will direct, Donald Trump has designated Kari Lake to head Voice of America. Lake, a former Phoenix news anchor and twice-unsuccessful candidate for statewide office in Arizona, has been a vocal and bitter critic of mainstream media.

The New York Times reported in December that she has called journalists “monsters,” and that Trump wrote on Truth Social that Lake will “ensure that the American values of Freedom and Liberty are broadcast around the World FAIRLY and ACCURATELY, unlike the lies spread by the Fake News Media.”

Whatever plans she and the president may have for remaking VOA have not happened in the first days of his administration. That’s because designation and appointment are not the same thing. She needs to be selected by the bipartisan U.S. Agency for Global Media, created as a buffer against political interference.

A second and separate government-supported outlet, Stars and Stripes, the defense department's respected newspaper and website for service members, could come under attack, too. Late in the first Trump administration, Defense Secretary Mike Esper announced that Stars and Stripes would shut down permanently — only to be reversed the next day by the president, who had been under criticism for negative comments on the military.

I use the well-worn term “political football” advisedly. At the start of Trump’s first term, he put his own pick in charge of the global media agency.  Amanda Bennett, a former Philadelphia Inquirer executive editor who had been leading VOA, quit.

When Joe Biden took office, he undid those changes. Trump’s appointment leading the agency, Michael Pack, had been accused of multiple abuses of his office and was fired. Bennett reemerged as the chief of the agency.

Stars and Stripes dates back to the Civil War, while Voice of America took shape in the early days of World War II. Both have enjoyed support under Republican and  Democrat presidents. Both proudly insist they are not exercises in propaganda. Rather, as the VOA website puts it, there’s a “firewall (that) prohibits interference by any U.S. government official in the objective, independent reporting of news, thereby safeguarding the ability of our journalists to develop content that reflects the highest professional standards of journalism, free of political interference.”

I’d like to believe the firewall will hold. But I’m betting Trump and Lake will find a way to push through the middle of it or pull off a trick play to get around it.

A Trump bump for MSNBC?

What does Donald Trump back in the White House mean for MSNBC? Apparently, a pop in the ratings — or, a Trump bump, as it is known.

In the first week of the second Trump administration, MSNBC saw a 61% increase in prime-time viewership, according to Nielsen. Viewership for the week of Jan. 20 (Trump’s inauguration day) through Jan. 24 was 1.3 million. The average viewership for the previous three weeks was 799,000.

It should be noted that viewership is still down compared to before the election. MSNBC, however, can at least hope the latest jump in viewership is the start of a trend. And Rachel Maddow returning to her show for five days a week should help — even if it’s only supposed to be for the first 100 days of Trump’s presidency.

In a new piece for The Washington Post, media reporter Jeremy Barr writes, “Rachel Maddow is bringing viewers back to MSNBC — and giving them hope.”

Media move

Katrice Hardy, executive editor and vice president of The Dallas Morning News, is leaving the Morning News to become chief executive of The Marshall Project — the nonprofit news organization that covers the U.S. criminal justice system.

Hardy, who will be based in Dallas, will oversee both the newsroom and business sides. As far as the project’s newsroom, Susan Chira retired as editor-in-chief. And Hardy ultimately takes over for Carroll Bogert, who is stepping down after a successful nine-year tenure as president. As The Marshall Project noted in its announcement, “Under Bogert’s tenure, The Marshall Project’s staff grew from 24 to 85. The organization invested heavily in local journalism, hiring news teams in Cleveland; Jackson, Mississippi; and St. Louis. The Marshall Project also became the largest distributor of quality journalism behind bars, with a print magazine circulating in more than 1,500 prisons and jails nationwide and a video series for incarcerated audiences that has run for two seasons, with millions of views.”

That’s what Hardy now takes over. She told The New York Times’ Katie Robertson that it was a tough decision to leave the Morning News, but she couldn’t turn down the “amazing opportunity” to take over such a “reputable news organization.”

Hardy added, “My goal is to make sure we’ve got many, many more years of growth and we’re in more prisons. They’ve done a really good job of being a really important news source for the imprisoned.”

Hardy has worked at The Virginian-Pilot and The Greenville News, as well as being the ​​Midwest regional editor for the USA Today Network and executive editor of The Indianapolis Star, where she partnered with The Marshall Project and other media outlets on a series about police dogs that won the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting in 2021.

Hardy is a member of Poynter’s National Advisory Board, and also has served on The Marshall Project’s board for the past three years.

Media tidbits

• The Washington Post’s Elahe Izadi with “Pulitzers ask court to pause Trump lawsuit until he’s no longer president.”
• Axios’ Sara Fischer with “RNC, Trump's former co-campaign manager preparing lawsuit against The Daily Beast.”
• The Hollywood Reporter’s Caitlin Huston with “Tubi Has Some Momentum. The Super Bowl May Give a Big Boost to the Free Service.”
• The New York Times’ Martin Fackler, Hisako Ueno and Kiuko Notoya with “Japanese TV Executives Get 10-Hour Grilling Over Sex Abuse Case.”
• Front Office Sports’ Michael McCarthy with “ESPN Considering Michael Smith Return After Contentious Exit.”

Hot type

• For Esquire, Ryan D'Agostino with “Did Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Really Tell Me I Gave My Son Cancer?”
• From CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan: “Woman builds retreat for pardoned Jan. 6 offenders.”

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Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at [email protected].