MAJOR MEDIA NETWORKS CIRCLE THE WAGONS, SUSPEND W.H. COVERAGE

A CNN reporter held her empty credential holder after the White House confiscated her badge on Saturday. Credit...Doug Mills/The New York Times

NY Times

Live Updates: Networks Suspend Pool Coverage of Trump After CNN Is Barred

CNN, MS NOW and Politico said they would sue to regain access to the White House. They argued in a joint statement that President Trump’s decision to block them violates the First Amendment.


Major television networks agreed to suspend their pooled coverage of the president on Monday as CNN, MS NOW and Politico said that they would soon file a legal challenge against President Trump’s order barring them from the White House grounds.

The three outlets argue that Mr. Trump’s ban, which he declared over what he sees as negative news media coverage, violates the First Amendment. Reporters from each organization were denied access to the White House on Saturday and CNN was removed from its durties as the White House pool representative for television networks on Monday.

The five networks that have suspended their pool coverage of President Trump — ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News, and NBC — just issued a joint statement: “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.”