The United States Department of Justice has opened an investigation to determine whether the major television networks in the country violated antitrust legislation by deciding to coordinate their news coverage interruption of the White House. The halt occurred in reaction to President Donald Trump's decision to deny access to three media outlets to the presidential facilities less than a month ago.
In a letter sent to one of the affected networks, CBS News, the spokesperson for the Department of Justice, Emily Covington, recalls that "Members of the television press group have boycotted the coverage of White House events. Collective boycotts among commercial competitors may violate the Sherman Act."
In the same document, the institution emphasizes that "the Antitrust Division is currently investigating to determine whether these media outlets have violated antitrust laws." The investigation focuses on the joint action of the networks and whether their coordinated response to the White House's decision could be considered a practice contrary to free competition.
In mid-September, Trump announced that his administration was revoking the White House access credentials for the congressional correspondents of CNN, MSNOW, and Politico, claiming that these media were spreading "fake news." The measure resulted in the immediate exclusion of journalists from these three outlets from press conferences and official events at the presidential residence.
The White House also conveyed to the three media that certain texts published about the new ballroom of the presidential residence, the ongoing war with Iran, and the midterm Republican convention constituted a threat to national security and violated the standards of "professionalism and decorum" required of accredited reporters.
As a gesture of support for the sanctioned media and in protest against the ban, the five major national television networks --ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox, and NBC-- jointly announced the temporary suspension of their news coverage of White House events. This coordinated reaction is the focus of the investigation currently being conducted by the Antitrust Division.
After the veto was made known, the five networks issued a joint statement in which they defended the public's right to receive independent information and rejected the exclusion of certain media based on their editorial lines.
The three affected media outlets turned to the courts and obtained a preliminary injunction from federal judge Timothy Kelly, which forced the Administration to return their press passes. Although the magistrate has extended the measure until this coming Tuesday to continue analyzing the case, the White House continues to limit the access of CNN and Politico correspondents to the Oval Office and the presidential plane Air Force One.