What is the White House press pool and why is it in a row with Trump?
The White House press pool is at the centre of a major row between President Donald Trump and TV networks. What is it?
The White House Press Pool is a collective of news organizations that collaborate to follow the president in various settings, such as the Oval Office, state dinners, and Air Force One. It aims to reduce costs and space requirements for individual media outlets, with separate pools for TV, photographers, print, radio, and new media. The pool is always prepared to document the president's speeches and movements.
Recently, a dispute has arisen between the Trump administration and the TV pool, consisting of CNN, ABC, CBS, Fox News, and NBC. On Friday, President Trump accused the TV pool of spreading "fake news" and "lies" about his team and banned three outlets - CNN, Politico, and MS NOW - from the White House. Following this, all major US TV networks decided to boycott the White House pool duties, effectively boycotting presidential events.
This boycott affected the coverage of the new helipad at the White House, as no pool cameras were present, and many journalists lacked microphones to clearly capture the president's remarks.
The TV pool's decision has raised constitutional concerns, as it could impact political coverage and the First Amendment's protection of press freedoms. The five networks stated that no administration should restrict a news organization based on disagreement with its reporting, emphasizing the importance of independent journalism and the public's right to accurate, unbiased information about its government.
CNN, Politico, and MS NOW have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, arguing that the revocation of their journalists' credentials is a violation of press freedom and the public's right to independent journalism. A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday. The controversy has also led President Trump to refer to the affected outlets as "Third Rate Clowns" and "Crooked and Corrupt Press," and to declare that they should not be allowed access to the White House.
The administration has since launched Trump TV, a 24/7 stream on YouTube, which primarily features replays of the president's speeches and rallies.
Written by urgent.news from BBC World's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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