TV networks unite against Trump's White House media ban
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The five major TV networks that rotate responsibility for pooled video coverage of President Trump issued a unified statement Monday in solidarity with the outlets he banned from White House grounds.
Why it matters: By backing CNN, MS NOW and Politico, the TV giants signaled they are willing to use their combined leverage to pressure the White House into reinstating access.
- The networks' power is practical and cultural: They collectively manage the pooled video that puts the presidency on television, the medium that made Trump a national celebrity and that he has long closely monitored.
Zoom in: "The public has a vital interest in receiving accurate, independent information about its government. No administration should restrict a news organization because it objects to its reporting," ABC News, CBS News, NBC News, Fox News and CNN said in a statement.
- The New York Times said it would not publish or distribute photos taken by the pool Monday in support of the barred networks.
- The Washington Post said it would not publish photos from Monday's presidential events until midnight ET.
Zoom out: The TV networks' statement comes shortly after CNN, MS NOW, and Politico on Monday said they will file a First Amendment lawsuit against the White House, arguing the president and the administration violated their rights by blocking their access over the weekend.
- The lawsuit is a historic show of solidarity amongst the banned outlets.
- In a note to White House pool subscribers Monday morning, pool chair Bryan Boughton of Fox News said, "[E]ffective today, the TV pool will not be covering events designated as pool coverage of the President." (The networks rotate the chair position on a quarterly basis.)
- "This follows the White House's position preventing CNN from fulfilling its assigned pool duties. There will be no replacement pool put in place. All other pool coverage will continue as normal, including Congress, VIPs, and selected events in Washington and around the country."
Reality check: Figures within the administration have argued the president has the right to ban reporters from certain spaces, but legal experts argue precedent overwhelmingly backs the news outlets.
- Jameel Jaffer, executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, told Axios the ban could be challenged as illegal retaliation for the outlets' coverage and as viewpoint discrimination.
- While officials can grant exclusive interviews, they can't open a space broadly to journalists but restrict certain outlets just because they dislike their reporting, he said.
The big picture: White House press pool outlets have a history of defending one another when persecuted or facing political pressure.
- In 2009, major TV outlets refused to participate in an Obama administration interview unless Fox News was included, which the White House eventually did.
- "The WHCA stands in defense of our colleagues at CNN, MSNOW, and POLITICO who are being singled out for doing their jobs," Fox News anchor and White House Correspondents' Association president Jacqui Heinrich said in a statement Friday when Trump first said he planned to ban the select outlets.
Disclosure: The author is a CNN contributor.
Editor's note: This story was updated to include statements from pool chair Bryan Boughton of Fox News, the New York Times and the Washington Post.
