When the White House took over its press pool in February — giving it control over which journalists received close access to President Donald Trump — it announced it would start inviting in “new media.”

That invitation has since gone to 32 outlets, a motley group that includes everything from decades-old magazines to much newer podcasts. The majority are conservative or right-wing — often explicitly so — but the rest defy easy categorization. There are three religious networks, all of which lean conservative, as well as a mix of outlets that includes a legacy paper, television networks and a digital outlet powered by artificial intelligence and Web3.

A White House press official said the office considers a “variety of factors” when filling the new media slot. They include availability, interest, reach, space, the relevant news of the day and “other factors,” like whether the outlet was excluded from previous press pools.

Because space in the Oval Office, Air Force One and other presidential areas is limited, a special group of roughly a dozen journalists — the White House press pool — is permitted to follow and report on the president’s activities every day. Outlets rotate through the pool, which includes photojournalists, broadcast reporters and print journalists. Special pools exist when the president travels.

For decades, the White House Correspondents’ Association, an independent nonprofit, determined the makeup of the press pool. That changed on Feb. 25, when the White House press team took control of the pool in an effort to “give the power back to the people,” as press secretary Karoline Leavitt put it.

“It’s beyond time that the White House press operation reflects the media habits of the American people in 2025, not 1925,” Leavitt said at the Feb. 25 press briefing. “A select group of D.C.-based journalists should no longer have a monopoly over the privilege of press access at the White House.

“All journalists, outlets, and voices deserve a seat at this highly coveted table, so by deciding which outlets make up the limited press pool on a day-to-day basis, the White House will be restoring power back to the American people, who President Trump was elected to serve.”

In reality, the move was likely an attempt to circumvent a lawsuit from The Associated Press, which had sued to regain access to the pool and other White House spaces after being kicked out for refusing to call the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America.”

WHCA president Eugene Daniels wrote in a statement at the time that the pool takeover “tears at the independence of a free press.” He added, “In a free country, leaders must not be able to choose their own press corps.”

The White House has since reshaped the pool, taking away guaranteed spots from the wire services — the AP, Bloomberg and Reuters — and adding new ones for TV, print and new media. The AP rejoined the pool on April 17 after a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction, ordering the White House to restore the outlet’s access.

While the second print slot has mostly been reserved for the three wires and the same group of news organizations that rotated through the initial print slot, the White House has generally used the new media slot and the second TV slot to extend access to new outlets.

New media

The occupants of the new media slot have been, more often than not, conservative and friendly to Trump. Of those 32 outlets, 19 provide reporting, analysis and opinion from a conservative viewpoint. That is a higher proportion than in the group of news organizations that rotate through the print slot. Of the 34 outlets that have occupied the print slot, less than a fifth could be considered conservative.

Among the conservative new media outlets, there is considerable diversity. They range from the digital platforms of institutions like National Review to independent commentators like John Fredericks.

One goal of the White House in inviting new media is to bring in additional perspectives. But some of the conservative outlets that have occupied the slot have been criticized for spreading mis- and disinformation or providing a platform for violence and hate.

Several of these outlets have faced scrutiny for violating the content policies of tech platforms like Google. In 2020, Google demonetized far-right, financial news outlet Zero Hedge for derogatory content found in the comments sections of stories about Black Lives Matter protests. At the time, it also threatened to stop serving Google ads to conservative online magazine The Federalist. A year later, Google demonetized conservative digital outlet The Gateway Pundit.

A few of the outlets have also been the subject of government scrutiny. U.S. intelligence officials told the AP in 2022 that Zero Hedge has published Russian propaganda. (Zero Hedge denied ever working with Russia.) In 2024, right-wing influencer Tim Pool of Timcast said he was duped into participating in a Russian propaganda operation uncovered by the Department of Justice.

That same year, the DOJ accused Bill Guan, the then-chief financial officer of conservative newspaper The Epoch Times, of participating in a $67 million money laundering scheme.

Conservative outlets receive the new media slot a disproportionate amount of the time. Of the 74 White House press pools that have included a new media outlet, 55 have seen the slot occupied by a conservative outlet. The Daily Signal and The Washington Free Beacon have participated in the pool the most, with eight and six appearances each, respectively.

The White House’s outreach to new media started in its press briefing room. There, Leavitt has held special briefings for “new media,” which have, at several times, featured MAGA influencers asking softball questions and making pro-Trump comments.

At official briefings, the White House reserves a seat for new media and gives the occupant the first question. A New York Times analysis found that the seat often goes to either right-wing media or newer outlets like the podcast Breaking Points and the news startup Semafor.

In contrast, the recipients of the White House pool’s new media slot include several legacy institutions, like The Spectator, which was founded in 1828 and claims to be the oldest weekly magazine in the world, and The Philadelphia Inquirer, a daily newspaper founded just a year later.

Other outlets are not completely new to the pool. The Inquirer, for example, has previously participated in the pool via a print spot, and Fox News’ broadcast journalists regularly rotate through the TV spot.

Brief descriptions of each of the outlets that have occupied the press pool’s new media slot can be found at the bottom of this story. 

Television

When the press pool was still controlled by the WHCA, a spot was reserved for a small TV crew from one of five networks: ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox and NBC. The White House kept that spot when it took over the pool in February, but it also added a second spot for other TV and streaming networks.

Out of the 13 outlets that have occupied the new TV slot, six have been conservative. The other outlets include the relatively recent NewsNation, which was created in 2021, and a mix of established networks like Hearst and Telemundo. Two of the outlets — CNBC and EWTN — have also received new media slots in the pool.

The conservative outlets include networks praised by Trump, like Newsmax and One America News Network. Both those outlets, as well as Fox Business’ parent company, Fox Corporation, have faced defamation lawsuits over claims of fraud in the 2020 election.

Another conservative outlet that has received the second TV slot, Real America’s Voice, has made headlines recently for its White House coverage. The network is the home of MAGA strategist Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast, which is co-hosted by the oft–profiled White House correspondent Natalie Winters.

Real America’s Voice chief White House correspondent Brian Glenn has also made headlines for his relationship with Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and his decision to question Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s attire at the contentious Oval Office meeting between Zelenskyy and Trump in February.

Like the new media slot, the second TV/streaming slot tends to be given to conservative outlets. Of the 77 pools that have included a second TV outlet, 44 have seen the slot occupied by a conservative outlet. Real America’s Voice and NewsNation (which is not conservative) have participated in the pool the most, with 13 and 15 appearances, respectively.

Brief descriptions of each of the outlets that have occupied the press pool’s second TV slot can be found at the bottom of this story. 

Outlets

New Media

• Agri-Pulse: A digital outlet started in 2004 that covers news about agriculture and food. It provides news and analysis “on the latest regulatory and legislative topics impacting the profitability of farmers, ranchers, agribusinesses, and the food industry.”
• The American Conservative: A bimonthly magazine that was established in 2002 as a “challenge to the GOP Beltway conservative establishment.” It opposed globalism at a time when many conservatives supported the Iraq War.
• The American Spectator: A magazine whose current iteration dates back to 1967. The nonprofit that owns it seeks to educate the public on “traditional American values, such as economic freedom, individual liberty, self-sufficiency, and limited government.”
• The Blaze: A digital news outlet founded by conservative political commentator and former Fox News talk show host Glenn Beck.
• Breitbart: An international digital outlet co-founded in 2007 by conservative political commentator Andrew Breitbart. Bannon has served as Breitbart’s executive chair and helped push the outlet to the alt-right.
• Christian Broadcasting Network: A Christian media network founded by conservative televangelist Pat Robertson. CBN has “seamlessly presented political propaganda as religious doctrine to its millions of viewers,” Vox reported.
• CNBC: A television channel founded in 1989 as the Consumer News and Business Channel. It is owned by NBCUniversal and covers business news and provides “real-time financial market coverage.”
• Daily Signal: A digital news outlet that started as a vertical created by conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation in 2008. The Daily Signal is now independent from Heritage.
• Daily Wire: A media company co-founded by conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro to provide “something unique in the right-of-center media landscape.” It produces multiple popular podcasts centered around conservative personalities like Matt Walsh and Michael Knowles.
• Decrypt Media: A news outlet covering the intersection of technology, alternative finance and culture. It seeks to “demystify the decentralized web” and incorporates the technology it writes about into its website. As a result, its operations are powered in part by artificial intelligence and Web3 technologies.
• The Epoch Times: An international news outlet founded by followers of Falun Gong, a religious movement known for its opposition to the Chinese Communist Party. Since 2016, it has ramped up pro-Trump coverage and its shows have promoted conspiracy theories, according to NBC News.
• EWTN: A Catholic outlet, EWTN stands for Eternal World Television Network. Its coverage is “hardly objective,” and it has donated money to conservative causes, according to the National Catholic Reporter. Pope Francis once referred to the attacks he has faced from EWTN as “the work of the devil.”
• The Federalist: An online magazine that Trump thanked for exposing the “extremism” of former President Joe Biden and the “far-left maniacs who want to destroy our country” in a video posted to The Federalist’s website.
• Forbes: A business magazine that was started in 1917 and now publishes editions worldwide. For several years, Forbes published articles from thousands of contributors that went unedited unless they became popular.
• Fox News Digital: The online platform of Fox News, a cable news channel started by media mogul Rupert Murdoch with the help of Republican political strategist Roger Ailes.
• Gateway Pundit: An online news outlet created as a counter to “establishment media” by promoting a “politically conservative world view.” It was demonetized by Google in 2021 for spreading misinformation and unsuccessfully attempted to file for bankruptcy last year while facing defamation lawsuits.
• Global Strat View: A self-described “independent media group” covering international news that has journalists in India, Europe and North America. It also has a virtual think tank that appears to have been inactive since 2021.
• John Fredericks Media Network: A conservative broadcast network that is home to a radio show by John Fredericks, the chair of Trump’s campaign in Virginia in 2016 and 2020.
• Just The News: A digital news outlet created by former Hill columnist John Solomon after he left the paper in 2019. An investigation by The Hill found that Solomon’s writing pushing false allegations regarding Biden and Ukraine omitted key details about sources and conflicts of interest.
• Merit Street Media: A television network created by Phil McGraw of Dr. Phil last year. McGraw said in a statement then that the network was coming at a time when “American families and our core values are under attack.”
• National Review Online: The online platform of the longstanding, conservative magazine National Review, which was founded by William F. Buckley Jr., in 1955.
• NOTUS: A digital news outlet created by the Allbritton Journalism Institute, a nonprofit journalism education organization established by former Politico publisher Robert Allbritton. Much of the staff at NOTUS — “news of the United States” — are early-career journalists on a two-year fellowship.
• Outkick: A digital outlet owned by Fox that focuses on sports and culture news. It views itself as the “antidote to the mainstream sports media that often serves an elite, left-leaning minority instead of the American sports fan.”
• The Philadelphia Inquirer: A legacy daily newspaper started in 1829. It is owned by the nonprofit journalism organization The Lenfest Institute.
• Semafor: A digital news outlet started by former BuzzFeed News editor-in-chief Ben Smith and former Bloomberg Media Group CEO Justin Smith. It covers international news in articles broken up into sections highlighting the news, the reporter’s analysis and counterarguments or differing perspectives.
• The Spectator: A weekly British magazine established in 1828 that covers politics and culture. Its coverage leans conservative — its motto is “firm, but unfair” — and it counts former United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson and other Conservative Party politicians among its former editors.
• Spectrum News: A network of television news channels owned by Charter Communications. It includes local news channels in 14 states, as well as regional sports networks and national coverage.
• Timcast: A news podcast by right-wing influencer Tim Pool. The DOJ last year alleged that Pool and several other influencers accepted money from Russian state media employees to publish pro-Russia propaganda videos, The Guardian reported. Those influencers denied any knowledge of the alleged scheme.
• Townhall: A digital outlet created by The Heritage Foundation that has since spun off and been acquired by Salem Media Group, a company that seeks to promote Christian and conservative values. Townhall provides journalism, commentary and analysis “for conservatives by conservatives.”
• Washington Free Beacon: A conservative digital outlet that launched in 2012 to “cover the enemies of freedom the way the mainstream media won’t.” Some mainstream outlets have noted the Free Beacon’s hard news reporting differentiates it from other conservative outlets.
• World News Group: A media company that publishes online and has a magazine and podcasts that provide “sound journalism, grounded in facts and Biblical truth.” A few years ago, several of its journalists, including its editor-in-chief, left over internal tensions stemming from a rightward shift in content, The New York Times reported.
• Zero Hedge: A digital outlet focusing on financial news. The outlet has spread right-wing conspiracy theories, and U.S. intelligence officials have accused it of publishing Russian propaganda — a claim Zero Hedge has denied — according to the AP. Many of its stories are published under the byline of the “Fight Club” character “Tyler Durden.”

Television

• CNBC: A television channel founded in 1989 as the Consumer News and Business Channel. It is owned by NBCUniversal and covers business news and provides “real-time financial market coverage.”
• EWTN: A Catholic outlet, EWTN stands for Eternal World Television Network. Its coverage is “hardly objective,” and it has donated money to conservative causes, according to the National Catholic Reporter. Pope Francis once referred to the attacks he has faced from EWTN as “the work of the devil.”
• Fox Business: The financial news channel launched by Fox in 2007. Fox was founded by media mogul Rupert Murdoch, and its holdings include sister channel Fox News.
• Gray TV: A publicly traded broadcast company that operates in 113 television markets in the U.S.
• Hearst: A broadcast company that operates in nearly three dozen U.S. cities. It is part of Hearst Communications, which was founded by William Randolph Hearst in 1887 and includes numerous newspapers and magazines like The San Francisco Chronicle and Cosmopolitan.
• Newsmax: A news channel belonging to namesake parent company Newsmax. It grew its viewership following the 2020 presidential election as viewers sought conservative alternatives to Fox, which had called Arizona for Biden. It went public in March and saw its stock price soar before falling sharply
• NewsNation: A cable news network launched in 2021 and owned by Nexstar Media Group, which also owns The Hill and a number of broadcast stations. Its programs include shows hosted by Elizabeth Vargas and Chris Cuomo.
• One America News Network: A broadcast network that launched in 2013 and has, like Newsmax, attracted viewers looking for a conservative alternative to Fox. It has called itself one of Trump’s “GREATEST supporters,” and Trump has similarly praised the channel for its right-wing programming.
• Real America’s Voice: A news network started in 2020 that aims to provide programming at “a time when traditional values continue to get trampled by conglomerate news-networks.” Its programming includes Bannon’s “The War Room” and Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk’s show.
• Right Side Broadcasting Network: An online streaming channel started in 2015 to provide livestreams of Trump events. Its YouTube page boasts that it has covered every Trump rally since 2015.
• Scripps: Short for publicly traded broadcasting company E.W. Scripps Company. It operates more than 60 news stations in over 40 markets.
• Sinclair: A broadcast company operating more than 180 stations across the U.S. It is known for making its stations run stories with a right-wing agenda. A 2019 study found that stations acquired by Sinclair see their coverage undergo a “significant rightward shift.”
• Telemundo: A Spanish-language television network owned by NBCUniversal that reaches viewers in 210 markets through 17 owned stations and 57 affiliates.