The White House Correspondents' Association has expressed concern that CNN will not allow a full staff of reporters inside the debate studio to cover and document the candidates' remarks.
Ben Mullin, a media reporter for The New York Times, posted:
The scoop: The White House Correspondents' Association expressed “deep concern” that CNN “has refused our repeated requests to include an in-studio White House travel pool.” Full statement: pic.twitter.com/qe3Y8Austz
— Ben Mullin (@BenMullin) June 27, 2024
Journalists also requested access but were denied.
News, w/@katie_robertson: A group of senior Washington journalists signed a letter to CNN on behalf of the White House Correspondents’ Association, asking the network to expand access to tonight’s debate. The letter reads: pic.twitter.com/ktTjoooNxm
— Ben Mullin (@BenMullin) June 27, 2024
With the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates no longer conducting debates, it is now up to for-profit media companies to decide who attends the presidential debates held to inform and inform the American people.
Some serious concerns are being raised. The biggest concern is who will record what the candidate says, and will those recordings include comments that occur when the candidate's microphone is off?
For the first time in the history of televised presidential debates, at least in modern times, there will not be an independent reporter in the studio recording and verifying the remarks.
CNN does not allow other reporters into the debate studio to maintain its monopoly. CNN's decision-makers seem to put profit ahead of the public interest. That's why having the debates in the hands of a bipartisan committee seems like a really bad idea.
All may go well, and nothing may go wrong, but the nation will be watching a debate without independent oversight and accountability, and that seems like a bad deal for democracy.