Speaking at a White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) event on Saturday, Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page said the Obama administration is “more threatening to press freedom than ‘any administration in American history.’” The Huffington Post,
“This administration has been more restrictive and more challenging to the press, more dangerous to the press, really, than any administration in American history,” Page said. “I think access to the White House has just gotten worse and worse.”
In January, former New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson called the Obama administration “the most secretive White House” she has ever encountered as a journalist. Associated Press Washington Bureau Chief Sally Buzbee also chimed in on White House transparency in September, citing daily “intimidation” tactics and firmly stating that the current administration is “significantly worse than previous administrations.”
The famous media lawyer James C. Goodale, who represented The New York Times through the Pentagon Papers case, condemned Obama for criminalizing whistleblowers and reporters who use them as sources, boldly stating that “Obama will surely pass President Richard Nixon as the worst president ever on issues of national security and press freedom.”
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