Simultaneously, the presidents of the American Society of News Editors and the Associated Press Media Editors sent a letter to their members urging them to stop using handout photos and video from the White House.
“We must accept that we, the press, have been enablers,” the ASNE-APME letter states. “We urge those of you in news organizations to immediately refrain from publishing any of the photographs or videos released by the White House, just as you would refuse to run verbatim a press release from them.”
The AP has a policy against using handout photos from the White House unless they are of significant news value and shot in areas that the press doesn't expect to have access to, such as the Situation Room or the private residence areas of the White House.
Obama spokesman Josh Earnest cast the news organizations' protests as part of the natural tension that exists between journalists and those they cover.
“If that tension didn't exist, then either you or we aren't doing our jobs,” he told reporters.
