White House cuts print media out of the picture

Before the certification of "Jeff Gannon" as a White House reporter who was good to go there was the Bush Administration's de-certification move against the Washington press, which it felt had to go. These two things are deeply related.

The idea that joins them was stated by Andrew Card, Bush’s chief of staff: ""I don’t believe [print media] have a check-and-balance function.” See? That's post-press thinking.

As with John Ashcroft, whose media person barred a print journalist from a press conference with the admonition : "I am sorry, but he is not talking to print. Only talking to television."