By Tyler Lilly – Editorial and News Editor

President Trump issued a statement on September 19 announcing that CNN, Politico, and MS NOW were banned from the White House effective immediately, claiming it was done due to the networks’ reporting of “fake news.” Trump has spoken out against the press before, but this move caught news networks, and even Trump’s advisors off guard. For context, CNN is one of the five networks that make up the White House TV pool, along with ABC, NBC, Fox News, and CBS. These five networks collaborate to film the White House’s daily events and record President Trump, making the ban have a significant impact on news coverage. 

The ban on CNN, Politico, and MS NOW is completely against the law, and has faced near-universal opposition from the news outlets, the public, and lawyers. All five of the networks in the White House TV pool refused to film White House events during the ban, including Fox News, which is typically very loyal to Donald Trump. Over 50 news organizations filed amicus briefs for the lawsuit, which also includes Fox News. If Fox News is attacking Trump over this, then it is definitely a bad thing. This is especially apparent because the ban was blocked by a judge and all three news organizations got their confiscated badges back quickly. 

The press ban is also a very clear attack on journalism and press freedom. Networks shouldn’t be banned just because they say negative things about the president. Networks shouldn’t be banned at all, period. This is not just a Trump issue either. In 2009, Obama attempted to ban Fox News from an event, and the other networks stood up for Fox the same way they are standing up for CNN now. News companies have a right to report as they please, and should not be barred from doing so by the government, no matter which side they are on.

The ban on multiple news companies from the White house is so unconstitutional that it seems to be a sort of political stunt. One that distracts from bigger things, such as the War in Iran. Trump’s legal team is still fighting the strikedown on the ban, and there is still intense legal debate going on. Although, if Trump wants to distract the media from more important things, this is a terrible way to go about it, especially with midterms coming up in November. Giving himself bad publicity months before voting might not work out for Trump and the Republicans in the end. Either way, banning networks from the White house is a threat to press freedom and should be unacceptable, no matter who the president is or how the network reports.