CNN has been prevented from accompanying US President Donald Trump on his scheduled trip to Tennessee, in the latest development in an escalating dispute between the White House and the news network.
CNN had been assigned to cover Trump’s Saturday trip as part of the White House television press pool, a rotating arrangement in which major US networks take turns providing coverage of the president and sharing footage with other media organisations.
However, a White House schedule released on Friday did not include CNN in the television pool for the Tennessee trip. The move means CNN will not be travelling aboard Air Force One with Trump as originally planned.
The latest restriction comes days after Trump announced that CNN, MS NOW and Politico would be barred from the White House, accusing the outlets of producing negative coverage of his administration.
Reporters from the three organisations were subsequently denied access to the White House complex. A federal judge later ordered the administration to restore their access, and the journalists returned to the premises.
Despite that court order, the White House has continued to restrict CNN’s role in presidential travel coverage.
CNN’s assignment to cover Trump’s Tennessee trip was part of the normal rotation among the major television networks. The press pool exists because only a limited number of journalists and cameras can travel with the president, with the participating outlet expected to distribute its coverage to other networks.
The dispute has already disrupted the traditional television pool system. Earlier in the week, ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox and NBC jointly stopped providing pool coverage of presidential events after CNN was removed from its scheduled duties.
The networks said the public has an important interest in receiving independent information about the government and argued that access should not be restricted because an administration disagrees with a news organisation’s reporting.
For Trump’s Tennessee trip, the White House schedule instead identified Lindell TV as the “Secondary TV” correspondent and crew. The outlet is operated by businessman Mike Lindell, a prominent Trump supporter.
The latest decision adds to an increasingly contentious relationship between the Trump administration and several major news organisations, with CNN, MS NOW and Politico challenging the administration’s restrictions in court.
CNN declined to comment on the latest development, while the White House had not responded to requests for comment at the time of the report.
Source: AFP.
