Reporters from CNN, MS NOW and Politico were denied access to the White House on Saturday, one day after President Donald Trump said he was barring the organisations because of coverage he considered “fake news,” according to Euronews.
CNN’s Betsy Klein and MS NOW’s Akayla Gardner said they were turned away when they arrived for work and that their press badges had been deactivated. Politico said its White House reporter, Cheyenne Haslett, was also refused entry and had her badge confiscated. The three organisations indicated that they were considering legal action.
Politico Editor-in-Chief Jonathan Greenberger said the publication would “vigorously defend” its First Amendment rights. CNN said it would continue its work of holding the government and other public bodies to account, while MS NOW said it intended to take all necessary steps to defend its rights and the role of independent journalism.
The White House Correspondents’ Association, led by Fox News journalist Jacqui Heinrich, called for the outlets’ access to be restored immediately. Heinrich said the precedent could extend beyond the three organisations, arguing that a standard used to exclude one outlet because of its coverage could later be applied to any news organisation.
The dispute is part of a broader confrontation between Trump and media organisations during his second term, Euronews reported. The president has criticised individual journalists and pursued legal or regulatory action involving several outlets. Last year, his administration barred Associated Press reporters from some presidential events after the agency declined to adopt the administration’s preferred name for the Gulf of Mexico; the AP’s lawsuit over that decision remains ongoing.
The Associated Press said it supported the organisations barred this week. The news cooperative said no news organisation or individual should face government retaliation over the words it uses.