Press Mutiny over Obama restrictions

There are 38 news organizations ready to stage a revolt over what they view as the "White House’s own Soviet-style news service, which gets privileged access to Mr. Obama at the expense of journalists who cover the president."

At issue is President Obama's policy of not allowing press photographers to cover many official events, then releasing photos and video taken by people under his control.  The Guardian is reporting that:

A mini-revolt by news organisations against White House press restrictions gathered momentum Monday as USA Today joined other media shops to have declared a boycott on officially issued photographs.
“We do not publish, either in print or online, handout photos originating from the White House press office, except in very extraordinary circumstances,” deputy director Andrew Scott said in a memo to employees. “The functions of the president at the White House are fundamentally public in nature, and should be documented for the public by independent news organizations, not solely by the White House press office.”
The memo followed the submission to the White House last Thursday of a letter signed by 38 US media organisations to protest limits on photographers' access.  The Obama administration has aggressively discouraged news organizations from pursuing sensitive stories, seizing reporters’ phone records and naming at least one journalist who published leaked information as a possible criminal co-conspirator. The reliance of the Obama White House on official photography has been a longtime source of complaint.