We’re Automatically Publishing the White House Press Pool

Wherever the president is, so are a cadre of reporters documenting his moves, his words, and directives.  They ask questions of the administration, and publish the White House public schedule, providing a glimpse into the priorities of the day.  The collective work of these journalists is crucial to our understanding of how our government operates.

It’s often treated as if the recipients are in a private club, but it’s all public record.

Because of a logistical quirk -- more reporters and news organizations want to cover the president than can easily travel -- a rotating group of journalists representing a variety of outlets take turns as “the pool reporter” -- and send out an email to everyone else, through the White House Press Office.

Way back in 2015, Gawker provided the public access to the pool reports, on a blog and via Twitter.  But as Gawker ceased operations and their portfolio of blogs transferred to other companies, the Public Pool blog quietly went offline.

We’re bringing it back.

Forth’s mission is to be our audience’s primary source of news, covering everything from around the block and around the world.  We’ve started small, with our original reporting focusing on Manhattan’s Upper East Side -- but always with an eye towards providing our users with as many real time updates -- and context -- as possible.  With the Press Pool, we can offer everyone visibility into the same updates that the DC media establishment reads.

You can follow along on our new Twitter account, @WHPoolOnForth, on our site at https://on.forthapp.com/dl/whitehouse, or in the Forth App.