Major U.S. television networks — FOX News Media, ABC News, CBS News, CNN and NBC News — on Monday suspended their joint television coverage of events involving President Donald Trump. The decision followed the administration’s refusal to allow CNN to serve as the White House television pool representative.
For years, the five networks have taken turns filming presidential events, sharing the costs and distributing the footage to other news organizations around the world. Monday was CNN’s turn, but the White House blocked the network from carrying out that role. The other members of the group refused to step in. “Effective today, the TV pool will not be covering events designated as pool coverage of the President. There will be no replacement pool put in place,” wrote Bryan Boughton, Fox News’s Washington bureau chief and the current chair of the television pool.
In a joint statement, the networks said: “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.”
Trump announced the White House ban on September 18 against CNN, MS NOW and Politico, accusing them of spreading “fake news.” On Saturday, journalists from those outlets were denied entry to the grounds and their passes were deactivated. On Monday the three organizations filed a lawsuit, arguing that the ban violates the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Because of the networks’ decision, there will be no shared television coverage of Trump’s events on Monday, including his trip to New York for the U.N. General Assembly. Print, radio and photo journalists will continue to work. The president described the ban not as an attack on the free press, but as a fight against “fake news,” which he said threatens national security.
