Change of plans: Fox News Oriental expert to accompany SecState to Asia

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Media pushes back on Secretary Tillerson’s plan to make Asia trip without press

State Department response: We hear what you’re saying -- will allow press coverage

  

The Washington Post reported today that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will travel to China, Japan and South Korea next week for what would ordinarily be viewed as an early-term showcase of the United States’ top diplomat in action.

Instead, the trip looks more like an effort to run away and hide.

Tillerson plans to leave the U.S. media behind, a break from precedent that has news outlets up in arms. Editors from The Washington Post, New York Times, Associated Press, NPR, BBC and CNN are among those who have signed a letter to the State Department, saying they are “deeply concerned” about the decision and requesting a meeting to discuss press access in general.

According to the Post, Tillerson’s State Department has been largely walled off from the press. The department finally held its first briefing on Tuesday, and Tillerson has refused to take questions from reporters in his few public appearances.

In late breaking news however, Tillerson and the State Department appear to be taking the media’s complaints to heart.

According to a statement from Crystal Clear, State Department deputy assistant to the deputy assistant press secretary, “We take feedback from the media seriously at State; we hear what you’re saying and in no way do we want Secretary Tillerson to make this trip without the press providing an appropriate, unbiased public narrative. As such, and in consultation with the White House, we have invited Fox News correspondent and Asia expert Jesse Watters to accompany the Secretary on his Asian trip. Given his extensive experience with Oriental people we believe he is the perfect choice to provide press coverage for the Secretary's visit to China, Japan and South Korea”

Watters is best known for his Fox News “Watters World” man on the street interviews, the most famous a piece where he went to New York’s Chinatown to see how many offensive Asian stereotypes he could fit into a single five minute video.