Pressefreiheit: Gericht verlängert Schutz für mehrere US-Medien

A federal judge has temporarily extended protection for several US media outlets from the White House, according to reports from President Donald Trump's administration. Judge Timothy Kelly renewed the legal protection for CNN, Politico, and the news channel MS NOW on Tuesday, preventing their journalists from being completely barred from access to the White House grounds.

A final decision on the constitutionality of the media ban has not yet been made with this new order. The three media outlets had sought extended protection from a ban after the judge temporarily ordered the restoration of their press passes in late September. This provisional ruling would have expired on Tuesday. President Trump likely barred the plaintiffs from accessing the White House, according to Kelly, because he believed their reporting was generally inaccurate and biased against him, wrote CNN.

Trump's revocation of the press passes could be a measure intended to dissuade a reasonable reporter or news organization from publishing reports he objects to, CBS quoted Kelly. Trump had announced in mid-September that CNN, Politico, and MS NOW would be banned from the White House due to what he deemed to be inaccurate and one-sided reporting from the White House.

The media then filed a lawsuit, alleging that the government was punishing them for their reporting and violating their freedom of the press. Kelly had already stated in his initial decision at the end of September that the media would likely succeed on at least their objection to lack of due process, citing decades-old legal precedent from a Washington-based appeals court.

The dispute stems from a broader constitutional question. The government is invoking a 1977 ruling that protects accredited journalists from arbitrary denial of their access to the White House. They argue that the greater latitude granted by a court in a separate proceeding in June for limited areas such as Air Force One and the Oval Office should also be applied to access to the White House in general.

However, Kelly has not fundamentally decided on the principle. As a federal district judge, he is bound by the existing decisions of the appeals court. The government has already indicated that it will challenge this precedent if necessary in an appellate proceeding.