The five major television networks that make up the White House TV pool suspended pooled television coverage of President Donald Trump on Monday after the White House prevented CNN from fulfilling its scheduled duties.
“The public has a vital interest in receiving accurate, independent information about its government. No administration should restrict a news organization because it objects to its reporting,” Fox News Media, ABC News, CBS News, CNN and NBC News said in a joint statement provided to TheWrap.
“Effective today, the TV pool will not be covering events designated as pool coverage of the President,” Fox News Washington bureau chief and TV pool chair Bryan Boughton wrote in an email to pool subscribers obtained by CNN’s Brian Stelter. “There will be no replacement pool put in place.”
CNN had been scheduled to serve as the primary television pooler Monday as Trump traveled to New York ahead of his appearance at the United Nations General Assembly. But the White House’s Sunday night guidance did not list CNN — or any other network — as the primary television pooler.
ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News and NBC News rotate responsibility for providing pooled television coverage of the president, including during travel and events where space prevents every news organization from sending its own camera crew. The designated network provides video and audio that is shared with the other networks and distributed more broadly to news organizations in the U.S. and around the world.
The suspension means Trump’s events designated for presidential pool coverage will not have the usual shared television camera providing footage to the wider press corps. Print, radio and wire reporters and still photographers are expected to continue covering the president, while other pool operations, including coverage of Congress, VIPs and other selected events, are continuing normally.
It was not immediately clear how long the suspension of presidential TV pool coverage would last. Asked about the duration of the action, a Fox News spokesperson referred TheWrap to the networks’ joint statement and comments made on air by White House Correspondents’ Association president and Fox News senior White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich.
TheWrap also reached out to ABC News, CBS News and NBC News for additional details.
The move comes three days after Trump announced that CNN, MS NOW and Politico were banned from the White House “effective immediately,” accusing the organizations of inaccurate reporting. The ban was enforced Saturday, when journalists from the three organizations were denied access to the White House grounds.
CNN, MS NOW and Politico sued the Trump administration Monday, arguing that their exclusion from the White House in response to their reporting violates the First Amendment and that their credentials were revoked without due process. The organizations are seeking a temporary restraining order restoring their access.
The White House Correspondents’ Association has also called on the administration to restore the outlets’ access, saying the government should not determine which journalists can cover the president based on whether officials approve of their reporting.
