The Trump administration has barred CNN from serving as the designated television pool provider for United States President Donald Trump, prompting other television networks participating in the White House pool to suspend their coverage of the President’s official events in solidarity with the network.
ABC News, CBS News, NBC News and Fox News announced on Monday that they would not provide replacement pool coverage after CNN was prevented from carrying out its scheduled responsibilities as the designated television pool provider.
The decision means that all five television networks that normally participate in the White House television pool have, for the time being, declined to provide pooled television coverage of Trump’s official activities.
The development affects Trump’s scheduled appearances at the White House on Monday as well as his planned visit to New York City in connection with the United Nations General Assembly.
The five networks issued a joint statement defending the importance of independent media coverage of government activities.
“The public has a vital interest in receiving accurate, independent information about its government,” the networks said.
“No administration should restrict a news organisation because it objects to its reporting.”
The television pool system allows a designated network to cover presidential events and share the resulting footage with other television outlets. The arrangement enables multiple broadcasters to obtain footage of presidential movements and events without each organisation having to deploy its own crew to every location.
Fox News Washington bureau chief Bryan Boughton, who was serving as the White House TV pool chair, informed the other participating networks of the decision in an email on Monday.
“This is to advise that, effective today, the TV pool will not be covering events designated as pool coverage of the President. This follows the White House’s position preventing CNN from fulfilling its duties,” Boughton wrote, according to reports.
The suspension comes amid an escalating dispute between the Trump administration and several media organisations over access to the White House and the conditions under which journalists are permitted to cover the President.
CNN, MS NOW and Politico have filed a lawsuit against Trump and three White House officials over the administration’s decision to bar the outlets from White House access.
The media organisations argue that the restrictions violate the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, which protects freedom of speech and freedom of the press.
The White House has defended its actions, maintaining its position in the ongoing dispute with the affected news organisations.
The confrontation has also attracted wider attention within the American media industry, with competing television networks joining together to suspend the established pool arrangement rather than replacing CNN as the designated provider.
The development represents an unusual disruption to the system through which television footage of presidential activities is routinely shared among broadcasters and other news organisations.
It also means that viewers may not receive the usual pooled television footage of Trump’s public engagements through the participating networks while the dispute continues.
Earlier, reports emerged that Trump had described some American media organisations as a “threat” to national security while CNN, MS NOW and Politico prepared to challenge his decision to restrict their access to the White House.
Trump made the remarks while defending his decision to restrict access to the three media organisations.
The latest confrontation comes against the backdrop of a broader disagreement between the administration and news organisations over press access, presidential coverage and the authority of the White House to determine which media organisations can participate in its coverage.
With ABC News, CBS News, NBC News and Fox News declining to take over CNN’s scheduled pool duties, the five networks that normally participate in the White House television pool have now declined to provide the designated pool coverage following the administration’s action against CNN.