CNN, MS NOW, and Politico on Monday filed a lawsuit challenging the administration’s actions after Trump barred CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House, alleging violations of their constitutional rights.
“It’s just biased news,” Trump said at an unrelated press conference in New York earlier Monday, adding that he believes that the outlets have an obligation to be fair.
Five major networks—ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News, and NBC—have shared the responsibility and participated in the television pool for decades. Other networks declined to provide a replacement crew, effectively suspending pooled television coverage of Trump’s presidential events.
The administration, however, has continued to defend its authority over access to the White House and has criticized the affected news organizations’ coverage. Its new approach emphasizes direct communication with the public and another way for the president to communicate without depending on news organizations that the administration believes have treated the president unfairly.
The White House has promoted Trump TV as a way for Americans to receive administration information and live events directly from the government, without relying on traditional news organizations to provide the video feed. A rotating group of television networks has taken turns providing video coverage of presidential events, and then the footage is made available to other media outlets.
News organizations and press freedom advocates, however, have raised different concerns, specifically centered on whether a president has the authority to restrict journalists’ access based on their reporting and whether government-provided video can adequately replace independent coverage. Critics also cite the First Amendment, which protects freedom of the press.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
