04/04/2017

MEDIA/TRUMP PEOPLE/SEAN SPICER: “Veteran radio reporter April Ryan’s run-ins with the White House in recent weeks have turned her into a kind of symbol. But it’s not exactly clear what kind.
After press secretary Sean Spicer responded sharply to Ryan’s question at a daily briefing last week, Hillary Clinton suggested the episode demonstrates how women are “patronized” in the workplace. Others saw the encounter with Ryan, who is black, as evidence of the White House’s dismissive attitude toward African Americans and its generally contentious relationship with journalists of all kinds.
Trump-centric detractors had their own take, painting Ryan as a lady with an ax to grind and as the embodiment of a partisan press.
This time, Ryan was thrust into the news as a result of asking Spicer about how President Trump intended to change the ‘perception’ of his administration — a reasonable question given multiple investigations of the Trump campaign’s alleged ties to Russia.
Spicer had none of it. Raising his voice and growing agitated, he replied that there was no Russia issue. ‘Stop shaking your head,’ he admonished her twice, igniting a social-media firestorm.”

-Paul Farhi, “When radio reporter April Ryan tangles with the White House, people listen,” The Washington Post online, April 4, 2017 6:01pm