A federal judge in Washington has ordered the White House to hand back press credentials to journalists working for CNN, MS NOW and Politico, blocking a decision President Donald Trump made only a week earlier. Reuters described the ruling as a serious defeat for Trump in one of his most significant battles with the news media.
According to the agency’s Thursday report, the court concluded that keeping reporters from the three outlets out of the White House is likely unconstitutional, and instructed that their accreditations be reinstated.
Trump had announced the exclusion on social media, arguing that the three newsrooms should not be free to keep publishing what he called fiction and lies. Lawyers from the US Department of Justice tried to defend the ban by invoking national security.
Once the president cut the three organizations off, their journalists were refused entry to the White House grounds. The outlets hit back with a lawsuit, claiming the move trampled on the free-press guarantees written into the American constitution.
Broadcasters refuse to take CNN’s slot
Monday was CNN’s turn to serve in the presidential press pool, and the network was due to accompany Trump to New York for a session of the UN General Assembly. After CNN was shut out of the White House, the remaining television networks decided that none of them would step in for the sidelined crew as a gesture of solidarity.
– It is in the vital interest of the public to receive accurate and independent information about the government. No administration should restrict a news organization’s activities just because it dislikes the way that organization covers events – said ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News and NBC in a joint statement.
How the press pool rotation works
Under rules that have been in force for years, each television network takes its turn supplying a camera operator, a sound technician and a producer or reporter for the day. While the technical crew films the president, the producer or reporter coordinates the live transmission by telephone, takes notes and asks questions.
Vice President J.D. Vance offered the administration’s explanation of the president’s move to reporters on Monday, insisting the White House was not shutting the outlets down but withdrawing a privilege.
– (The president) is not banning the media. He is simply saying: \”we are not going to provide you with special access to the White House if you engage in something that is in practice propaganda\” – said Vice President J.D. Vance.
Źródło: Polsat News, Fot. Polsat News
