Podcasters and influencers can soon say “Hey, guys” at White House press briefings

The cultural prognosticators who did their own research and helped elect President Trump gained more steam this morning as the administration announced it would welcome “independent journalists, podcasters, social media influencers and content creators” to White House briefings. Replacing “legacy media”‘s domination over reporting on the Trump administration, “new media” members will be given a front-row seat for briefings, which, when you think about it, is a great place to hock Prime energy drinks. The news that a White House press briefing could host Theo Von exacting revenge on those dastardly Paul brothers for pranking him during the inauguration comes amid a disastrous freeze of federal funds, aid, and grants and a mysterious shutdown of the Medicaid portal throughout the country.

In her premiere press conference, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced this is “in keeping with this revolutionary media approach that President Trump deployed during the campaign.” The White House will “speak to all media outlets and personalities, not just legacy media,” which the President often calls “an enemy of the people” for reporting on him. Meanwhile, unsurprisingly, the podcasters and influencers who aided his return to office align with the Trumpian worldview. A recent Bloomberg study of 2,000 videos produced by nine podcasters, including Logan Paul, Joe Rogan, and Theo Von, found these men “used their perch to rally these constituents in support of Trump and the political right.” Bloomberg continues:

To hear them tell it, America is in a desperate place, destabilized by soaring inflation, migrants streaming across the border and the beginnings of a third world war. Gender politics have gotten out of hand while schools and the medical establishment duped the public. The same messages were communicated in Trump’s inaugural address on Monday. Now that Trump is back in power, the broadcasters are well-positioned to help build support for his political agenda, transforming grievances into policy that could have lasting effects even beyond Trump’s term in office.

In addition to influencers being allowed press passes, “440 journalists whose passes were wrongly revoked during the previous administration were restored.” That story is murkier. In 2023, the White House altered rules regarding a “hard pass” authorization allowing reporters to access the White House anytime so long as the security booth is operational. The change required proof of employment from a Washington-based news outlet, a physical address in Washington, D.C., proof of working in the White House during the last six months, and press credentials from a press gallery in the U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, or Supreme Court. Journalists who did not meet this criteria could still apply for a day pass, which annoyed them. At the time, a White House spokesperson told Politico, “roughly 40 percent of hard pass holders had not accessed the White House complex in the prior 90 days,” indicating that many of the 440 journalists took a hard pass on updating their hard pass.