ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox News and CNN are suspending their pooled television coverage of President Donald Trump after the White House prevented CNN from carrying out its scheduled assignment on Monday (September 21), according to The New Republic.
The five networks rotate responsibility for providing shared footage of presidential events to other news organizations.
CNN was scheduled to handle the pool Monday as Trump traveled to New York for the United Nations General Assembly, The New York Times reported.
CNN, MS NOW and Politico also sued the Trump administration Monday over the White House's decision to bar their journalists from the White House.
The outlets argue that the administration violated their First Amendment rights by restricting access because of their reporting.
The coordinated response is unusual. The New York Times noted that despite Trump's years of lawsuits and threats against news organizations, rival media outlets have rarely taken collective action of this scale.
Bryan Boughton, the Washington bureau chief at Fox News and acting chair of the television pool consortium, told members Monday that there would be no replacement crew for CNN.
“Effective today, the TV pool will not be covering events designated as pool coverage of the President,” Boughton wrote in a note obtained by The New York Times.
“This follows the White House’s position preventing CNN from fulfilling its assigned pool duties,” Boughton wrote. “There will be no replacement pool put in place. All other pool coverage will continue as normal.”
The five networks said in a joint statement that the public has “a vital interest in receiving accurate, independent information about its government,” adding, “No administration should restrict a news organization because it objects to its reporting.”
Trump has defended the restrictions, accusing the outlets of spreading what he calls “FAKE NEWS,” according to The New Republic.
Former President Barack Obama has also criticized Trump's restrictions on media access. As BIN reported Monday, Obama asked how the public would have reacted if his administration had barred Fox News from the White House.
“What if I said, you know what, Fox News, get out of here?” Obama said. “It’s unimaginable.”
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