The Washington Free Beacon's Ellison Barber laid out the case against the Obama White House's policy of banning photo journalists from covering certain events Friday on The Kelly File.
Barber contended the ban effectively makes the White House photographer the sole individual who determines how the president is visually presented. "That's one angle of a story that's taken by someone paid to make the president look good," Barber said.
Talk show host Richard Fowler attempted to claim the White House photographer's privileged access to certain executive functions some how ensures an objective portrayal of the subjects and event.
Barber disputed that notion, telling host Megyn Kelly that photos from the presidential photographer are inherently biased because the cameraperson is an employee of the administration charged with casting the president in a positive light:
MEGYN KELLY: […] This is a group of news organizations saying and I read from the letter, surely as if they were placing a hand over a journalist's camera lens, officials in this administration are blocking the public from having an independent view of important functions of the executive branch. Is it not true, Ellison?
ELLISON BARBER: No, I would disagree with what Richard said. It is a huge deal. And particularly when it comes to these pictures, photo journalism is journalism. Each picture tells a story in it's own right, and it is not sufficient to say the White House took these pictures and we put them out for you because that's a controlled image. That's one angle of a story that's taken by someone who is paid to make the administration look good. It's just not a complete representation of the picture. It sort of is a similarity, if the White House staffer came up to a reporter and said don't [worry] about coming to this event, I'm going to take notes for you, I'll write it up and then your paper can run it. That's essentially what they're doing with these pictures and that wouldn't be acceptable in regular journalism, and it should not be an okay standard in photo journalism either.