A dispute between the White House and major U.S. news organizations escalated again Monday after ABC, CBS, Fox News and NBC agreed to suspend their pooled television coverage of President Donald Trump following the White House’s decision to prevent CNN from carrying out its scheduled pool duties.
The move came just hours after CNN, MS NOW and POLITICO announced that they were suing the Trump administration over their exclusion from the White House, arguing that the restrictions violate First Amendment protections for freedom of the press.
CNN was scheduled to provide the television pool
For years, ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News and NBC have rotated responsibility for providing television footage of presidential events. The system allows the networks to share the costs of covering the president while distributing video to other news organizations in the United States and abroad.
CNN had been scheduled to serve as the television pool representative Monday, including during Trump’s trip to New York for the United Nations General Assembly. The White House, however, prevented CNN from fulfilling that assignment.
Instead of replacing CNN with another network, the television pool suspended its coverage.
Fox News Washington bureau chief Bryan Boughton, who is currently serving as acting chair of the television pool consortium, informed members that there would be no substitute television pool while the dispute remains unresolved. Other forms of pooled coverage — including print, radio, wire services and still photography — were expected to continue.
Ban followed Trump’s criticism of three outlets
Trump announced Friday that CNN, MS NOW and POLITICO would no longer be permitted access to the White House, accusing the organizations of reporting what he described as “fake news” and saying the decision reflected years of coverage he considered unfair.
On Saturday, journalists from all three organizations were turned away from the White House complex and their press credentials were confiscated or deactivated. CNN, MS NOW and POLITICO each said they would continue covering the administration and defend their press rights.
Trump has defended the restrictions, saying he is not attacking a free press but acting against news organizations whose reporting he considers false.
CNN, MS NOW and POLITICO take the dispute to court
The three organizations said Monday they had notified the administration that they were filing a joint lawsuit in federal court in Washington, D.C. They are seeking emergency relief that would restore their access to the White House.
Their lawsuit argues that the government cannot revoke journalists’ credentials because officials object to the content of their reporting. The outlets say the restrictions amount to retaliation based on viewpoint and violate both First Amendment and due-process protections.
The White House Correspondents’ Association and other press organizations have also criticized the bans and called for access to be restored.
An unusually broad response from the networks
The decision by ABC, CBS, Fox News and NBC not to replace CNN in the television pool is significant because those networks normally compete with one another while cooperating on the practical logistics of presidential coverage.
It is rare for presidential travel or public events to proceed without a television pool representative. Monday’s suspension therefore expands the dispute beyond the three organizations directly banned by the White House and raises broader questions about how the press corps will cover presidential events if the confrontation continues.
For now, Trump will continue to be covered by print, radio and wire reporters, as well as photographers, while the legal challenge and the television pool dispute move forward.
Sources: The New York Times, Reuters, Associated Press
By NJ RADAR Team