“It’s great for us to come out here and have a substantive discussion about policies,” Mr. Spicer said at the lectern, when asked why Friday’s briefing had been taken off-camera. The White House argues that reporters take advantage of the briefings to showboat for the cameras. During June, the White House has held an average of one televised briefing per week, down from several each week in previous months. So far, news organizations appear to be following the White House rules, if reluctantly. At the start of Friday’s briefing, the website of “PBS NewsHour” began streaming live audio of Mr. Spicer, even as cable news networks held off.

Source: New York Times June 23, 2017 17:35 UTC