The main television networks in the United States have decided to suspend the joint audiovisual coverage of the events of President Donald Trump in response to the veto imposed by the White House on CNN, MS NOW, and Politico. The decision leaves, for the moment, without the usual shared television crew the presidential events that depend on this system, including Trump's trip to New York for the United Nations General Assembly.
The measure represents a coordinated response from ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox, and NBC, the five networks that take turns sharing the so-called TV pool. This mechanism allows one of them to record certain presidential events on behalf of the others and subsequently distribute the footage.
CNN was supposed to take on this task on Monday and accompany the president during his trip to New York. After the White House prevented him from performing that function, the other networks have chosen not to take his place. Bryan Boughton, head of the Fox News office in Washington and responsible for the television pool, announced that, with immediate effect, there would be no coverage of the presidential events assigned to this system.
The decision does not mean that U.S. networks have stopped reporting on Trump. What is suspended is the joint system of recording certain presidential events. Shared coverage of other areas, such as Congress, will continue to function normally.
Five networks stand up to the White House
The five television networks have jointly defended their decision by appealing to the citizens' right to receive independent information about the Government. They have also rejected the idea that an Administration can exclude a media outlet for disagreeing with its coverage.
The movement is particularly significant due to the participation of Fox News, a network whose editorial line is different from that of CNN and which is also part of the rotating coverage system.
The conflict began on Friday when Trump announced that CNN, MS NOW, and Politico were banned from the White House. The president justified the decision by accusing the three media outlets of spreading "fake news" and later labeled them as a threat to national security, without providing evidence to support this last claim.
The prohibition moved from words to actions over the weekend. Journalists from the three media outlets were rejected when they tried to access the presidential complex and some of their accreditations were revoked.
CNN, MS NOW, and Politico take Trump to court
The confrontation has also moved to the courts this Monday. CNN, MS NOW, and Politico have jointly filed a federal lawsuit against Trump and his Administration to restore access for their journalists to the White House.
The three media outlets argue that the prohibition violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which protects freedom of speech and the press, and the Fifth Amendment, considering that the revocation of credentials occurred without due process. They have also requested a court order to suspend the veto and allow access to be restored while the litigation is resolved.
According to the plaintiff organizations, the White House revoked their accreditations due to their reporting and without providing a prior procedure to appeal the decision. Their central argument is that the Government cannot decide which media have access based on whether it agrees or not with the content of their reports.
Trump rejects that interpretation. The president maintains that his decision does not constitute an attack on press freedom and presents it as an action against what he calls fake news.
The precedent of Associated Press
The new litigation comes after another confrontation of the Trump Administration with Associated Press (AP). The White House restricted the agency's access to certain spaces and presidential events after it maintained the use of the term "Gulf of Mexico" over "Gulf of America." A federal judge subsequently ordered the restoration of AP's access, although the litigation continued.
The current dispute elevates the conflict to another dimension because, in addition to the legal battle of the three directly affected media outlets, the major television networks in the country have coordinated their response and paralyzed a fundamental piece of the audiovisual coverage system of the Presidency.
The effect is already visible in Trump's immediate agenda. His trip to New York to participate in the United Nations General Assembly is left without the shared television crew that normally accompanies the president and provides images to the networks and other media.
The next front will be in the courts. CNN, MS NOW, and Politico demand a swift intervention from the justice system to recover their accreditations, while the suspension of the pool television will remain as a pressure measure on the White House as long as the conflict over CNN's access continues.