White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Monday that the communications office is working to ensure administration sources are available more frequently on the record when dealing with journalists.
Speaking on a panel with reporters at George Washington University, Sanders suggested that the White House needed to do more to hold itself to the same standard that it has for the news media.
“We’ve actually, you know, we had a meeting today in our office to push for things that come from the administration, particularly from the press office, to be on the record,” she said. “Because I think it’s hard for us to argue that we want you guys to have on-record sources if we’re not going on the record.”
Sanders said there will be a place for nameless sources in the administration on stories related to “process stuff that isn’t necessarily on the record,” but she said on policy initiatives, sources should be on the record.
President Trump often criticizes news reports about the White House that include anonymous quotes, or “leaks” from sources purportedly within his administration. Reporters, however, have noted that officials regularly host meetings or calls with reporters under the condition that the staff members’ names are not included in any stories.
The panel also featured New York Times reporter Glenn Thrush, Olivier Knox of Yahoo News, American Urban Radio Networks’ April Ryan, and Margaret Talev of Bloomberg News.
