Despite the Trump administration’s efforts to restrict media organizations’ access to the White House, the media and legal crisis in Washington is escalating and has reached a new peak.
Five of the largest television networks in the United States - ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC and Fox News - announced that they were suspending the work of the press pool that accompanies the President wherever he goes, after refusing to provide a replacement camera crew in CNN’s place.
At the same time, the three media organizations that were barred - CNN, Politico and MS NOW (formerly MSNBC) - filed an unprecedented lawsuit against the administration.
The networks’ unusual move comes in response to an announcement by President Donald Trump over the weekend in which he immediately barred the three media organizations from entering the White House, claiming that they disseminate “fake news" that harms national security.
As a result, CNN was removed from its scheduled assignment to manage the President’s shared camera pool during his trip to New York for the United Nations General Assembly. In response, all of the networks announced that they would not send a replacement crew, meaning that the President’s events will not receive the traditional pooled video coverage distributed to all media outlets.
On the legal front, the three news organizations announced that they had turned to the courts to protect their rights under the First Amendment to the US Constitution.
The media organizations protested that their press credentials had been revoked without prior notice or due process, solely because the administration objected to the way they covered its activities.
“The administration’s decision sets a dangerous precedent that threatens freedom of the press and the public’s ability to receive independent reporting free from government interference," they said.
Trump, for his part, has not backed down and continues to sharply criticize the media. In a post on Truth Social, the President argued that the White House is not attacking the free press.
“The White House is launching an attack on Fake News, something that has grown like a cancer in our beloved United States. It is corrupt, deliberate, widespread, fully coordinated and out of control - it is a threat to our national security and must stop now."