Why Did President Obama Only Take Questions From Female Reporters At Press Conference?


During his final press conference of the year, President Obama only called on female reporters during the Q&A session.

According to a report from ABC News, Obama became the first president in history to call on only female reporters at a solo news conference. All of the reporters Obama selected for questions were from radio or print outlets. None from television stations were picked to ask questions.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told CNN that when the White House was creating the list of reporters for Obama to call on during the conference, they realized there was a chance to show the women who cover the president in a section that is usually dominated by men.

“The fact is, there are many women from a variety of news organizations who day-in and day-out do the hard work of covering the President of the United States.”

Many took notice on Twitter of Obama only calling on female reporters. Former ABC News White House correspondent Ann Compton was one who questioned if the president did this on purpose.

Compton also mentioned that former president George W. Bush once called on only men during a press conference.

There were several others who applauded Obama for only calling on female reporters for questions.

The female reporters that Obama sought for question included Cheryl Bolen from Bloomberg, Roberta Rampton from Reuters, and Colleen M. Nelson from the Wall Street Journal.

One of the topics discussed at the press conference was Sony’s decision to pull The Interview from theaters after the studio received threats from North Korea in regards to the movie. As previously reported by the Inquisitr, Obama told the reporters that he doesn’t think Sony made the right decision.

“Sony’s a corporation. It suffered significant damage; there were threats against its employees. I am sympathetic to the concerns that they faced. Having said all that, yes, I think they made a mistake.”

What do you think of Obama’s decision to call on only female reporters?

[Image via Wikimedia Commons]

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