Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
The White House denied access to reporters from CNN and MS NOW on Saturday morning, after President Donald Trump announced a ban on both organisations and Politico over what he called their “fake news” coverage. The move is the latest escalation in Trump’s long-running effort to restrict coverage by news outlets he objects to.
The action has sharpened concerns over press freedom and First Amendment protections in the United States. CNN and MS NOW said they stood by their journalists, while Trump defended the ban by saying the outlets were publishing “fake news”.
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Both CNN White House reporter Betsy Klein and MS NOW reporter Akayla Gardner went on air to say they had been barred from entering the White House. Network correspondents are usually present at weekends when the president is in Washington or at nearby Camp David. Trump is at the presidential retreat in Maryland this weekend. Politico journalists typically are not at the White House on Saturdays.
Gardner said she was turned away and that her entry badge was confiscated. She said she had passed through two gates, but when she reached the point where her badge had to be scanned, an officer told her it had been disabled and asked her to hand it over. She reported that he said the decision “was above him”. Gardner also said an MS NOW producer was able to get in, but a photographer’s badge had also been disabled.
Klein, CNN’s senior White House reporter, also said her badge had been deactivated. CNN media analyst Brian Stelter called the move “a direct threat to press freedom in the United States”. “It’s so much bigger than CNN,” Stelter said. “This is a free speech test in America.”
CNN said in a statement that it stood behind its reporters. “We will not be deflected from our duty to hold the government and other public bodies to account,” it said. The statement was shown on air before Klein began reporting on her ban.
MS NOW also said it stood behind its journalists. “The White House belongs to the American people and the decisions made inside are funded by our tax dollars,” the network said in a statement on Saturday. “MS NOW intends to take any and all steps necessary to defend our First Amendment rights and the essential role of independent journalism in our democracy.”
On Friday, Trump wrote on his social media site that, effective immediately, “I am banning” CNN, MS NOW and Politico “from the White House as a result of their constant reporting: FAKE NEWS!” Minutes later, when asked at an Oval Office event to explain his statement, he said: “Because they’re fake news. You get so tired of reading and seeing fake news. When you look at CNN, it’s just fake. That’s why their ratings are no good. When you look at MS NOW , it’s fake news.”
He added: “And when you look at Politico … the stories they wrote are fake. So there’s a lot of news, and there may be others to join them, and maybe they can get better. But our country has to have honest news.”
In his second term, Trump and his administration have increased pressure on some media organisations through court action and regulatory measures. Trump has also criticised individual reporters in person and on social media, at times in strongly personal terms.
The latest move follows his decision last year to bar Associated Press reporters from the Oval Office, Air Force One and other events after the news agency chose not to follow his lead in renaming the Gulf of Mexico, which lies partly in Mexican and other waters. The AP said it would note, where appropriate, that Trump had ordered it renamed the “Gulf of America.”
The AP filed a lawsuit and the case is continuing. Since returning to office, Trump has also pursued legal action against several outlets, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and the BBC. His administration is also involved in a long-running confrontation with ABC over the renewal of its broadcast licences.
Saturday’s denial of access to CNN and MS NOW reporters, after Trump’s public announcement of a ban on the two networks and Politico, has added to the growing conflict between the White House and major news organisations.
With PTI Inputs
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
