The Treasury Department denies G20 credentials to economics reporters from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg News
The Treasury Department denied press credentials to economics reporters from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg News, excluding them from coverage of the Group of 20 finance ministers meeting in Asheville, North Carolina.
What happened
Bloomberg reported that the Treasury Department excluded journalists from several media outlets, including Bloomberg News and The Wall Street Journal, from coverage of the Group of 20 finance ministers summit in Asheville, North Carolina. CNBC, citing The New York Times, reported that economics journalists from the Times, the Journal and Bloomberg were barred from attending, and that the reporters were not granted credentials by the Treasury Department. A Treasury spokesperson said nearly 300 members of the media, including one Times reporter, would have high-level access to policymakers throughout the event.
Why it matters
Credentialing is the department's own decision about who may watch it work, and applying it outlet by outlet turns access to a scheduled international meeting into something a department grants or withholds by name. The department's answer — that nearly 300 members of the media, including one Times reporter, will have high-level access — is a statement about the size of the pool and not about why these particular economics reporters were left out of it.