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Friday, July 17, 2009

White House Press Corps pissed when Twitter gets scoop of Press Conference

The White House Press Corps are usually the first to get wind of a presidential news conference. First come the whispers, then comes the official word -- usually in an email from Press Secretary Robert Gibbs or one of his deputies. Today, there had been buzz of a pending presser all afternoon, but no official word from the White House. Then, at 4:23 p.m., the announcement came -- from an unexpected channel: Twitter.com.The tweet read "@whitehouse You heard it here first: Primetime presidential news conference at the White House, Wed. 7/22 @ 9PM EDT"When asked whether there was in fact, a news conference scheduled for next Wednesday, a White House aide said, "It is on our White House Twitter, so yes, I can confirm."Julie Mason, Washington Examiner reporter and at-large White House Correspondents' Association board member-elect, says the announcing a major news event via the niche-medium bothers her. "If the administration wants to have a twitter conference, then Twitter is the way to go. For a press conference? Notify the press," Mason said.
UPDATE: Exactly two hours after the @whitehouse twitter post, the White House sent out an official email announcing the press conference to the White House Press Corps.
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