SCATHING! “The fact that the White House press corps can no longer grandstand on TV is of no concern to us.”

The White House briefing room has many functions: a storage space for tripods and camera gear, a backdrop for visitor photos, a temporary workspace for journalists without a desk.

What it is not, at least since March 11, is a venue for President Trump’s press secretary to brief reporters on administration policies.

Next week will mark six months since the last White House “daily” briefing, another erosion of transparency and democracy under Trump or a sad indictment of the “fake news” media’s incivility, depending on your view.

“The reason Sarah Sanders does not go to the ‘podium’ much anymore is that the press covers her so rudely & inaccurately, in particular certain members of the press,” is how Trump defended the scarcity of briefings earlier this year. “I told her not to bother, the word gets out anyway!”

The reason Sarah Sanders does not go to the “podium” much anymore is that the press covers her so rudely & inaccurately, in particular certain members of the press. I told her not to bother, the word gets out anyway! Most will never cover us fairly & hence, the term, Fake News!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 22, 2019

The number of briefings dwindled to about one a month at the end of 2018. Then they stopped altogether. The most recent came on March 11; then-White House press secretary Sarah Sanders took to the podium for 14 minutes.

They have not been pronounced dead officially. But there is no prospect of their return.

“President Trump communicates with the American people more than any president in history,” said Stephanie Grisham, who replaced Sanders in July. “The fact that the White House press corps can no longer grandstand on TV is of no concern to us.”

More at Source: Trump kills the White House press briefing, 50 years after it was born