On CSPAN right now, you can see an ongoing live feed of the Trump Tower elevators in New York City, set there to spectate the comings and goings of important political and media persons, rushing to meet with President-elect Donald Trump.

It was through this outlet that journalists discovered that some of the key corporate news players were meeting Trump today in off-the-record meetings to discuss… well, who knows what?

While the media plays their games and pretends that they are opposed to Trump, they are not so opposed to meeting with him to discuss private matters off the record. Of course, why would you be averse to meeting with the guy who won you big ratings and a big payday during the election?

This choice by the media to meet in private with Trump is especially concerning considering that Trump has yet to formally speak to the press or hold a press conference since long before he won the presidency.

Among the notable faces to have met with Trump today are CNN‘s Wolf Blitzer, MSNBC‘s Chuck Todd, ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, and more. All told, Trump spoke to executives or pundits from ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC.

Why were they so compliant to these off-the-record meetings? Did Trump hand down an ultimatum to these major networks, saying that if they didn’t agree to this secret meeting, they could expect zero access in the future?

Donald Trump has shown again and again that he has no respect for the traditional role of the media in providing transparency and accountability from the public to the President.

Until corporate media stands up and refuses to engage in this sort of cronyism, how can we expect the PEOTUS to respect his obligations?