News photographer who protested White House restrictions on access gets revenge with revealing shot

MANILA — The fight over access between reporters and any White House can sometimes seem more like an exercise in First Amendment theory than practical reality: Is it really that important for the news media to get a glimpse of, say, a carefully choreographed photo op at an international summit before being led back out in a matter of minutes?

Actually, yes, it is, as New York Times photographer Doug Mills illustrated over three days on President Trump's trip to Asia.

On Friday, Mills was part of the small group of traveling “press pool” members shadowing Trump in Danang, Vietnam, when he tweeted a “photo” of a black box to protest the White House's decision to shut out the pool from any coverage of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum meetings.

“This is what our coverage ... looks like today,” he wrote in the tweet. “Blank. No coverage.”

On Monday, Mills got his revenge at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit here with Trump in Manila. Admitted with the pool for a few minutes to observe the annual ritual of the ASEAN leaders' “family photo,” Mills snapped a quick frame that spread quickly through social media after he posted it online.

Link to tweet