The press-minder phenomenon isn’t limited to the White House. Reporters who cover other parts of official Washington, such as Capitol Hill, can usually count on encountering an official escort, turning a one-on-one interview into a one-on-two. The same thing happens irregularly to journalists who interview sports, entertainment and business figures.

But the White House — perhaps the single most intensely covered institution in the United States — may be the most diligent user of the chaperoned interview. Almost every officially sanctioned exchange between reporters and the proverbial “senior administration officials” is conducted in the presence of a press staffer, even when the interview is “on background,” meaning the source will not be identified by name. Even lesser officials are subject to the policy; one reporter says a press attendant sat in when she interviewed Sam Kass, the chef who advises first lady Michelle Obama on her “Let’s Move!” health and nutrition program.

This week, White House press secretary Josh Earnest complained that The Washington Post had relied too heavily on anonymous sources in a story about how officials had ignored warnings of a budding immigration crisis.