Nontraditional media and several TikTok influencers who use the social media platform to talk about news said they would be applying to be a reporter in the briefing room this week after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced there would be a designated seat in the briefing room for independent or new media.
“The idea of opening the White House press briefings to organizations beyond the legacy media is the right thing to do,” ex-CNN journalist Chris Cillizza wrote in a Substack post.
As several journalists have opted to utilize Substack, others have used TikTok to share news or talk about news. Leavitt also suggested that podcasters apply to what she described as the “new media” seat.
“I very much hope, however, that the Trump White House doesn’t just (or mostly) approve only news creators who are predictably in favor of their partisan views. If they want to do a one and one as they did on Tuesday — one partisan news outlet (Breitbart) and one more nonpartisan outlet (Axios) — that would be fine with me. In fact that would be great — whether I was ever the representative for the nonpartisan media,” Cilizza wrote.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced there would be a designated seat in the briefing room for independent or new media. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Leavitt told reporters during her first briefing these changes were being made to keep in line with President Donald Trump’s “revolutionary media approach” that he deployed during his campaign in speaking to popular podcast hosts and social media influencers.
“In keeping with this revolutionary media approach that President Trump deployed during the campaign, the Trump White House will speak to all media outlets and personalities, not just the legacy media who are seated in this room,” she explained.
The Daily Wire reported that the White House had received over 7,000 applications for the new media seat after the announcement.
Leavitt told reporters during her first briefing that changes were being made to keep in line with President Donald Trump’s “revolutionary media approach.” (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)
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Democratic influencer Harry Sisson, a vocal supporter of former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris, posted on TikTok that he was applying for a press pass, but had his doubts about whether he would be allowed in the briefing room.
Sisson argued that independent media should have a seat at the table, but wondered how the White House would decide who would get the new media seat, and whether he, a Democrat, would be allowed to ask a question.
Host of “The Ruthless Podcast,” Josh Ashbrook, became the first podcaster to ask a question in the briefing room. Ashbrook asked Leavitt if the media was out of touch.
“In your first briefing, the media went after this administration for deporting illegal immigrants they claimed were not criminals,” Ashbrook began. “The question is, do you think they’re out of touch with Americans demanding action on our border crisis?”
Ashbook, a former campaign strategist to Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., shed light on what it was like to be in the briefing room during an appearance on “The Will Cain Show” that afternoon.
President Donald Trump speaks in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, in Washington. (Alex Brandon/AP Photo)
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“I’ve interacted with a lot of these same reporters as a press secretary back in the day. So, when I walked into the room, I saw a lot of eye rolls and a lot of smirks and that is exactly what I was hoping for, Will,” Ashbrook told Fox News’ Will Cain.
Ashbrook also praised the White House’s embrace of “new media,” saying Leavitt and her team are making sure that “we the people have a voice inside that room.”
“It’s a brand-new day in the media,” he said. Others also praised the move on social media.
Other influencers, such as Ivan Gutierrez, a TikToker with 1.2 million followers who posts regularly about the news, also announced they would be applying to have a seat in the briefing room.
Gutierrez said he was hopeful to post a video directly from the briefing room should his application get accepted.
Another TikTok news account, UnderTheDeskNews, run by V Spehar, who has collaborated with Biden and former President Barack Obama on the social media app, also praised the seat, but announced they would not be applying for a pass.
“But what I will say is having a new media seat in that room is incredibly smart, and very clever and definitely needed,” Spehar said in the post. “And I think the White House Correspondence Association and their attempt to constantly stiff-arm new media missed an opportunity here, because that seat should have been overseen by the White House Correspondence Association. It should have been a peer-led offering, but it’s not.”
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