The Trump White House doesn’t really want balanced media coverage

When CNN's Dylan Byers reported that counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway had been pulled off the air by the White House, his story included a familiar line: “Conway did not respond to a request for comment.” Within minutes of the report's publication, however, Conway was talking — to rival network MSNBC, claiming Byers and CNN had it wrong. Half an hour later, Conway's “might be doing TV later tonight” became is doing TV later tonight.

To review: Conway chose not to comment before CNN published its report, but in the 55 minutes afterward, she pushed back in an off-camera interview with MSNBC and announced an appearance on Fox News to further counter the idea that she had been sidelined. Byers viewed the sequence as a series of calculated maneuvers. When a journalist asks for comment on what seems sure to be an unfavorable story, do not provide one. Wait for the report to be published, then attack it as unfair or inaccurate. Maybe even act as if you didn't have a chance to tell your side of the story.