The Seattle Police Officers Guild has issued a public statement slamming their local NPR station for refusing to air President Donald Trump’s daily coronavirus briefings.
The guild also announced that they will be live streaming all the briefings on their social media channels because people deserve to access the most up to date information on the crisis.
“KUOW is monitoring White House briefings for the latest news on the coronavirus — and we will continue to share all news relevant to Washington State with our listeners,” the public radio station announced in a tweet. “However, we will not be airing the briefings live due to a pattern of false or misleading information provided that cannot be fact checked in real time.”
However, we will not be airing the briefings live due to a pattern of false or misleading information provided that cannot be fact checked in real time. (2)
— KUOW Public Radio (@KUOW) March 24, 2020
The guild responded to the announcement with a statement of their own, condemning the station for playing partisan politics.
On Wednesday, March 25, a local public access news affiliate announced it will no longer be airing the White House’s live press COVID-19 news briefings. SPOG President Mike Solan Released the following statement: pic.twitter.com/o5sCKBAvBb
— Seattle Police Officers Guild (@SPOG1952) March 26, 2020
“In light of the recent decisions made by a public news affiliate, SPOG will be live streaming all the White House’s press COVID-19 briefings on our social media channels,” SPOG president Mike Solan said in a statement posted to Twitter. “This is not a time to play partisan politics. Seattle community members deserve the most up to date information during this crisis; this includes life saving medical information from our nation’s Surgeon General and top doctors.”
Solan continued on that, “we, at SPOG, see COVID-19 as a public safety issue and are continuing to do all we can to serve you and protect lives in our community.”
Watch Corona Task Force Update Live https://t.co/A8VSYcIRDO
— Seattle Police Officers Guild (@SPOG1952) March 26, 2020
The White House has also condemned media outlets that are refusing to air the briefings, calling it a “failure of their duty to the American people.”
“It’s not surprising, but also a failure of their duty to the American people, that some media outlets would choose to block their audiences from receiving accurate, up-to-date information on President Trump’s whole-of-government approach to slowing the spread of COVID-19,” White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere told the Daily Caller. “No other Administration has been as transparent and as accessible as this one, and we will continue to make sure this Nation hears from its leaders and top health experts during this global pandemic.”
