What the DNC’s yacht party for creators says about press access

Reporters want access, as both parties cater toward “creators” instead of traditional media. Are we inadvertently fueling propaganda?

Last week Kamala Harris did her first — and much anticipated — news interview with Dana Bash from CNN.  There was a pent up frustration in the press corps for access that this interview probably won’t settle. 

Often in Washington and beyond, people brush aside the frustrations of the press corps, a group where the appetite can seem insatiable and self regard runs pretty high. 

There were reasons reporters were growing more frustrated, though.  Both parties are spending much more time and oxygen cultivating creators and influencers, and seemingly have less time for traditional media.  

Just a week before Vice President Harris’ interview, at the Democratic National Convention, “creators” were wined and dined, with more access and perks than journalists themselves received — or would take.  And many felt like this access bypassed journalists who are more likely to call bluster when they see it. 

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One of the lessons I learned working in the White House was you can tell a lot about a country by dynamics between a leader and the press corps. 

In Trinidad and Tobago, at the Summit of the Americas, Venezuela’s President Hugo Chávez had a paparazzi-like atmosphere around him everywhere he went, with “journalists” following every move, but he — and the handlers — had complete control over what was released. 

In Egypt, under President Hosni Mubarak, those controlling Host TV, the organization that would broadcast the images to the world, asked me for cues for coverage of President Obama.

In China members of the “media” were most often family members of Chinese Communist Party leaders, never free to utter criticism, taking their cues from Chinese security. 

Meanwhile it’s a point of pride for many that the White House Press Corps is free to criticize the President of the United States, while paying for their own ride aboard Air Force One, an independence unrivaled throughout much of the world. 

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In part due to that pride of independence, some in the press corps were frustrated after they learned the DNC was inviting more than 200 content creators to the 2024 Democratic Convention.  

Embracing creators is not exclusive to Democrats, or even politics. The RNC rolled out the red carpet for creators, too. President Trump regularly does “interviews” with non-journalists like Elon Musk and controversial streamer Aiden Ross. The Paris Olympics made sure that creators were welcomed, too.

The hope of all these entities, in a diffuse media environment, is relevance and influence. They’re trying to broaden their audience and, if we’re being honest, cut out the filter of media scrutiny.

That created a bit of a disconnect at the DNC.

A friend of mine texted me about what was planned: Not only were these 200 creators headed to Chicago, but they were inviting them to a “yacht party.”  A yacht party?  Both of us, without much experience with yacht parties ourselves and very conscious of the economic pain so many are feeling across the US, were a little taken aback.   

Beyond special parties, the creators were given a traditional press pass — with a creator overlay.  Evidently that was a ticket to prime real estate in the Convention Hall, giving them special access to surrogates and creator spaces. 

They weren’t journalists, my friend who met them was quick to tell me.  They’re Twitch gamers, stay at home moms, beauty and lifestyle influencers, some super progressives.  

At the DNC, some of them just seemed lost, my friend told me. 

Having had the experience of working with the press — and meeting many of these influencers — she doesn’t think press corps’ frustration should lie with these influencers.  They’re just ordinary people, some of them with full-time jobs.  They’re not doing the job of journalists, she was quick to point out.  

The frustration with the situation was warranted though. Their own access was the point of contention, because the media felt they weren’t getting the access they needed, or the same access granted to creators.  

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It was April 2008 that I was involved in organizing a sit down interview for the then-Senator Obama with Fox News.  

The set up was hurried.  It was a coach’s office at a high school in Marion, Indiana. The room was drab, the Fox News team tried to bring in draping, but it was odd.  When David Axelrod and Robert Gibbs came to look, they objected.  This wasn’t warm, it wasn’t official.  It wouldn’t do.  We quickly rearranged the setup.  For something that would do. Something that was presentable. 

And then-Fox News host Chris Wallace started peppering the then-Senator Obama with questions about polls (one I really hate), questions about his former Pastor (whom he had already denounced), questions about how he might be formidable against John McCain. 

It wasn’t a pleasant experience. But in the US it is part of running for President.  By that time, Obama pointed out in this interview, he had already debated Hillary Clinton 21 times. 

In this campaign on the other hand, we’ve seen very few debates.  The one general election debate we did have, well, that’s upended the entire race.  

Meanwhile, President Trump sitting with Elon Musk — even if delayed for reasons that would have put many traditional news organizations out of business — garnered millions of listeners on X and all of the traditional news organizations covered it. 

It’s easy to brush off press frustration.  I’ve been there, I’ve heard it.  This one interview won’t satisfy that. Nor should it.  

Our traditional news organizations are shedding jobs at a faster rate than coal mines. While there are incredible independent journalists, some here on Substack, most of them have more limited budgets and are not covering the White House aboard Air Force One day to day. Still others, who I long respected in the industry, have left journalism altogether.  

There is no one “news media” in America.  So I won’t make vast generalizations.

There are individuals who take the responsibility to hold power accountable everyday in the press corps. And many of those individuals are frustrated by their access.

I worry that the more we accept friendly interviews for our own side, and the more dismissive we are of journalists’ concerns, the closer we are to becoming more like those countries - Venezuela, China, Egypt - whose company in this regard, I would rather not keep.

We have to find a balance.