The major American television networks —ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox News— announced this Monday the suspension of joint coverage of President Donald Trump's activities, in solidarity with CNN, which has been banned from the White House along with MS NOW and Politico.
The conflict began last Friday when Trump announced on his Truth Social network the banning of access to those three media outlets "immediately," accusing them of spreading false news.
The ban took effect the next day: the correspondents from CNN, MS NOW, and Politico were physically denied entry when trying to access the presidential complex, and the journalist from Politico also had her press pass confiscated.
This Monday, the White House took a step further by removing CNN from its assigned shift in the rotating coverage system to accompany Trump to New York, where he is participating in the UN General Assembly.
The joint coverage system —known in English as pool— operates through a rotation among five networks: ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC, and Fox News. The assigned outlet films the presidential events and shares the footage with the other accredited media. Following CNN's exclusion, the other four networks refused to send a replacement, resulting in no shared television coverage of the presidential events for the day.
Bryan Boughton, head of the Washington office of Fox News and acting president of the television pool, formalized the decision with a statement: "Starting today, the television pool will not cover events designated as presidential pool coverage. There will be no replacement pool."
The action of the chains coincided with a joint lawsuit filed by CNN, MS NOW, and Politico against the Trump administration for violation of the First Amendment, as confirmed by the AP agency.
In a joint statement, the three media outlets explained: "This morning we notified the Government that we are filing a lawsuit today to protect our rights under the First Amendment and to defend the principle that the Government does not decide what the press reports or publishes."
The lawsuit claims that the revocation of credentials "without warning or process" constitutes a "flagrant violation" of constitutional rights and a form of discrimination based on the content of journalistic coverage.
The White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA), headed by Jacqui Heinrich, demanded the immediate restoration of access and warned that the criteria used to exclude one media outlet could be applied against any other in the future.
The constitutional expert Bruce D. Brown, president of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, described the veto as "flagrantly unconstitutional" and pointed out that the jurisprudence is clear: "Once the White House invites some journalists, it cannot prohibit others based on the content of their coverage, which constitutes viewpoint discrimination."
Trump responded this Monday on Truth Social with an argument that his critics consider contradictory: "The White House is not carrying out an attack against a free press, something I appreciate," he stated, insisting that his offensive is aimed at "fake news" and not against press freedom in general.
It is not the first time that Trump has tried to restrict media access to the White House. During his first term, he had already denied access to CNN and other media outlets, although unsuccessfully in court.
The coordinated suspension of the pool by the four remaining networks represents, however, an unprecedented action in the recent history of the U.S. presidential press.
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