Former White House press secretaries, others call for return of regular press briefings

   WASHINGTON, Jan. 11-- A group of 13 former White House press secretaries, foreign service and military officials on Friday called for the return of regular White House and other press briefings.
   "All of us have experienced the challenges of a regular press briefing, whether at the White House, the State Department or the Pentagon," they said in an open letter. "We all had days where the last place we wanted to be was behind one of those podiums. But day after day, we persisted,"
   "The public has a right to know what its government is doing, and the government has a duty to explain what it is doing," the group wrote, further urging the resumption of regular press briefings across the federal government.
   The letter was signed by press secretaries who served under Presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, along with others who handled communications and public affairs for the State Department and the Pentagon.
   The letter comes as media watchdogs have pointed out that over 300 days have passed since the public was offered an official White House press briefing from the official White House press secretary, a post now filled by Stephanie Grisham.
   Bestselling U.S. novelists Stephen King and Don Winslow have offered to donate 200,000 U.S. dollars to a children's hospital if Grisham, who often appears on conservative-leaning Fox News but has never held an official press briefing since her appointment last summer, will hold one.
   "Why no press briefings? This administration isn't about information, it's about propaganda. A press briefing will only underline lies and contradictions. Go ahead, Stephanie Grisham, prove me wrong," King tweeted on Thursday.
   "If you have 200,000 dollars to play with," Grisham responded, via an interview with CNN on Thursday, "why not just help children because it's a good thing to do?"
   "Donations to charity should never come with strings attached," she added.
   President Donald Trump's administration has set a record for the longest period without a White House briefing by the press secretary, which last occurred in March 2019 while Sarah Sanders, Grisham's predecessor, still held the position.
   Regular press briefings had been a long-standing White House tradition held in the press briefing room, in which a press aide offers updates on White House news and takes questions on a wide range of issues.
   Trump, however, prefers to hold informal press pools himself with reporters on the White House lawn, as well as taking questions during public appearances.
   The relationship between Trump and the press has been acrimonious for the majority of his term, as the president has regularly derided negative coverage of his administration as "fake news," calling some U.S. media outlets "enemy of the people."  Xinhau