(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) A group of news networks began protesting President Donald Trump’s ban of Politico, MS NOW and CNN from the White House by imposing what appears to be a self-imposed suspension of their “pool” duties.
The networks, ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC and Fox, have historically taken turns recording the president during so-called pooled events. On Monday, however, they said that distribution of the footage would be suspended until further notice.
The networks traditionally take turns recording pooled events, which in practice means events at the White House in which one outlet is designated to record video and audio and then distribute the footage to other outlets participating in the White House press pool.
Fox News Washington Bureau Chief Bryan Boughton announced the decision in an email to colleagues, according to several news outlets.
“This is to advise that, effective today, the TV pool will not be covering events designated as pool coverage of the President,” Boughton reportedly wrote.
CNN was slated to provide pool coverage for the other outlets, but that became impossible after the Secret Service prohibited the network from entering the White House and removed its press credentials.
Boughton confirmed that the decision to pause the TV pool “follows the White House’s position preventing CNN from fulfilling its assigned pool duties. There will be no replacement pool put in place.”
The decision came after Trump announced Friday in a Truth Social post that CNN, Politico, and MS NOW would be banned from the White House.
Trump did not specify what may have prompted his order, but in subsequent remarks, he suggested it was the product of the outlets’ years-long peddling of stories he viewed as tilted toward the political left.
In response, the Big Five networks issued a joint statement decrying the ban and affirming that the “public has a vital interest in receiving accurate, independent information about its government.”
The outlets said that no administration “should restrict a news organization because it objects to its reporting,” according to CNN.
Meanwhile, the three banned outlets filed a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration on Monday, claiming that Trump’s order violates their First Amendment and due process rights.
Notably, Kelly presided over the 2018 case involving then-CNN journalist Jim Acosta, whom Trump had banned from the White House during his first administration. In that case, Kelly granted CNN a temporary restraining order that allowed Acosta to return to the White House.
