• Home
  • Opinion
  • Quizzes
  • Redistricting
  • Sections
  • About Us
  • Voting
  • Events
  • Civic Ed
  • Campaign Finance
  • Directory
  • Election Dissection
  • Fact Check
  • Glossary
  • Independent Voter News
  • News
  • Analysis
  • Subscriptions
  • Log in
Leveraging Our Differences
  • news & opinion
    • Big Picture
      • Civic Ed
      • Ethics
      • Leadership
      • Leveraging big ideas
      • Media
    • Business & Democracy
      • Corporate Responsibility
      • Impact Investment
      • Innovation & Incubation
      • Small Businesses
      • Stakeholder Capitalism
    • Elections
      • Campaign Finance
      • Independent Voter News
      • Redistricting
      • Voting
    • Government
      • Balance of Power
      • Budgeting
      • Congress
      • Judicial
      • Local
      • State
      • White House
    • Justice
      • Accountability
      • Anti-corruption
      • Budget equity
    • Columns
      • Beyond Right and Left
      • Civic Soul
      • Congress at a Crossroads
      • Cross-Partisan Visions
      • Democracy Pie
      • Our Freedom
  • Pop Culture
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
  • events
  • About
      • Mission
      • Advisory Board
      • Staff
      • Contact Us
Sign Up

Charles Bierbauer

    FollowUnfollowFollowing
    Open Government

    A talkative president, sure, but much is missing without press briefings

    Charles Bierbauer
    March 06, 2020
    White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham and Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley

    White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham and her deputy Hogan Gidley peer out from the Green Room before President Trump delivered remarks in January.

    Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

    Bierbauer, a former dean at the University of South Carolina, was a longtime CNN Washington correspondent.

    Journalists learn to adapt to current conditions, be they storms or tantrums, vagaries of nature or whims of officials. White House correspondents these days should be well past their withdrawal symptoms from the daily delirium of the once-regular White House press briefing.

    Earlier this year, as 300 days passed without a formal briefing, a bipartisan group of past administration press secretaries called for restoration of the daily briefings.

    "Bringing the American people in on the process, early and often, makes for better democracy," they said in an open letter on CNN.com.

    "The process of preparing for regular briefings makes the government run better. The sharing of information, known as official guidance, among government officials and agencies helps ensure that an administration speaks with one voice," the former spokespersons said, adding that this is particularly important in foreign and military policy.

    Keep ReadingShow less
    open government

    Join an Upcoming Event

    View All Events
    Get some Leverage Sign up for The Fulcrum Newsletter
    Follow
    Get some Leverage Sign up for The Fulcrum Newsletter
    Follow
    Contributors

    Reform in 2023: Leadership worth celebrating

    Layla Zaidane

    Two technology balancing acts

    Dave Anderson

    Reform in 2023: It’s time for the civil rights community to embrace independent voters

    Jeremy Gruber

    Congress’ fix to presidential votes lights the way for broader election reform

    Kevin Johnson

    Democrats and Republicans want the status quo, but we need to move Forward

    Christine Todd Whitman

    Reform in 2023: Building a beacon of hope in Boston

    Henry Santana
    Jerren Chang
    latest News

    Political brain fog

    Lawrence Goldstone
    12h

    Sounding the alarm over TDS

    Lynn Schmidt
    12h

    Podcast: Redefining conservatism for millennials

    Our Staff
    12h

    Taking flight into difficult but meaningful conversations

    Debilyn Molineaux
    22 March

    The power of libraries to connect communities

    Annie Caplan
    Cristy Moran
    22 March

    Podcast: Break out of your bubble: Talk to a stranger

    Our Staff
    22 March
    Videos

    Video: The hidden stories in the U.S. Census

    Our Staff

    Video: We asked conservatives at CPAC what woke means

    Our Staff

    Video: DeSantis, 18 states to push back against Biden ESG agenda

    Our Staff

    Video: A conversation with Tiahna Pantovich

    Our Staff

    Video: What would happen if Trump was a third-party candidate in 2024?

    Our Staff

    Video: How the Federal Reserve is the shadow branch of the government

    Our Staff
    Podcasts

    Podcast: Redefining conservatism for millennials

    Our Staff
    12h

    Podcast: Break out of your bubble: Talk to a stranger

    Our Staff
    22 March

    Podcast: Inequitable ability: Electoral and civic challenges faced by those with disabilities

    Our Staff
    21 March

    Podcast: A tricky dance

    Our Staff
    14 March
    Recommended
    Political brain fog

    Political brain fog

    Big Picture
    Sounding the alarm over TDS

    Sounding the alarm over TDS

    Threats to democracy
    Podcast: Redefining conservatism for millennials

    Podcast: Redefining conservatism for millennials

    Podcasts
    Taking flight into difficult but meaningful conversations

    Taking flight into difficult but meaningful conversations

    Big Picture
    The power of libraries to connect communities

    The power of libraries to connect communities

    Big Picture
    Podcast: Break out of your bubble: Talk to a stranger

    Podcast: Break out of your bubble: Talk to a stranger

    Podcasts