The Biden transition team disabled the public chat function on its transition Zoom calls, according to Sam Stein.
Stein, who is the incoming editor of Politico, tweeted on Dec. 30 that the chat function was disabled as a place where he and others “had been routinely complaining to them to take more questions.”
According to reports, members of the media were growing “frustrated” with Biden’s transition team as well as Biden himself.
Reporters from CNN, Washington Post, PBS, New York Times and Politico were routinely called on at press conferences while mainstream outlets like the Associated Press were not.
A reporter from the Daily Beast mentioned the concern in the chat of a Zoom presser a week ago. Zeke Miller of the AP also asked if the team would take more questions.
If there are reporters in the mainstream who aren’t completely behind Biden and ready to do his bidding, they may find the next four years more frustrating than they realized. Not only will they have to scratch and claw to even ask Biden questions, they’ll have to try to present his answers in a rational manner as well.
They’ll certainly be earning their paycheck.
