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White House using cost of COVID tests as ‘means test’ for media coverage

Reporters who cover the White House have had to take COVID-19 tests every day in order to keep the president, his staff and family safe.

The White House had been footing the bill for the tests, but now the cost is being shifted to news organizations. The tests cost $170 each, and exceptions have only been carved out for pool reporters who travel with the president and attend daily briefings.

The White House says that the costs of administering so many tests have become prohibitive, but what about the costs to news organizations that are already dealing with strained budgets?

The White House Correspondents’ Association has protested that charging news organizations for the tests “sets up a means test for White House coverage.”

Unfortunately, they’re right.

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