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Governor’s briefing will only have pool reporters going forward

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Illinois

* Email from the governor’s press secretary Jordan Abudayyeh…

UPDATED PROCEDURE: Governor’s 2:30pm briefing

Reporters—

I appreciate your patience as we navigate a new normal due to COVID-19.

STARTING MONDAY: To further ensure we’re appropriately following social distancing guidelines we will now only allow one print pool reporter and one broadcast pool reporter in the room for the governor’s daily press briefings. We will continue to accept questions from our portal that most of you have already been using.

The broadcasters have organized themselves into a pool without my involvement and will continue doing so. Broadcasters, only the reporter from the pool team that day will be allowed in the room. Print reporters, I trust you can talk amongst yourselves to work out a similar system, but let me know if I can be helpful. Pool reporters gather questions from their colleagues and ask them in the room. I will continue working to ensure reporters working from home and from across the state are also equally represented by asking questions from our portal.

The only thing I ask is that you let me know who will be the pool reporters that day so I can let the security desk know who to expect.

Please let me know if you have any questions. I look forward to the day when we can return to a normal press conference set up where we can stand too close together and shout over each other once again.

Thanks!
Jordan

Aside from the health issues, some of the broadcast outlets were asking ridiculously repetitive questions and cutting off time for reporters who can’t be there or choose not to be there. Yesterday was one of the worst. A talk show host from a small radio station hogged the mic for what seemed like forever with things that weren’t even actual questions. It was ridiculous.

My own opinion is Abudayyeh has been fair to those of us who have asked questions via the online app and has posed some tough questions from reporters to the governor. I’ve heard no complaints about censorship, but a print pool reporter is also a good idea just to make sure.

posted by Rich Miller
Sunday, Apr 19, 20 @ 3:46 pm

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