US media outlets take legal action after White House ban

Alex Ritzen (0:00)

This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Alex Ritzen and in the early hours of Tuesday, September 22nd, these are our main stories. America's major TV networks jointly suspend their pooled coverage of events at the White House in response to Donald Trump's banning of three major outlets. Thousands flee Yemen as the war between the Iranian-backed Houthis and Saudi-backed forces escalates. We have a special report. And there's a new attempt by FIFA president Gianni Infantino to win back support for his leadership of global football.

Also in this podcast.

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Alex Ritzen (0:49)

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We begin in the United States, where television networks have been staging an extraordinary collective revolt by effectively boycotting their shared coverage of President Donald Trump. They're acting in protest at his decision to ban three news outlets from the White House. Those outlets, CNN, Ms Now and Politico, have filed a lawsuit against the administration. Mr Trump, who's in New York ahead of his speech at the UN General Assembly, spoke about the boycott after he met the city's mayor, Zerran Mamdani.

Donald Trump (1:38)

It's interesting because they said they were going to boycott me, but they never boycott me. So I wasn't very worried about that. Look at all that press. And I think I have an obligation not to let fake news. Very bad for the country, very bad for national security. So I have that obligation. So we'll see how it works out.

Alex Ritzen (1:56)

By Monday evening, the White House had launched a streaming channel in response, saying Trump TV would stream top videos, major remarks and must-see highlights 24-7.

On Monday, it was CNN's turn to film White House proceedings, but because of the row, major networks kept their cameras away as President Trump opened his new helipad. Perhaps not what Donald Trump intended to happen. I got more from our North America editor, Sarah Smith.

Sarah Smith (2:27)

No, I don't think this is what he intended at all, because we know how much Donald Trump relishes being on TV and dominating the media even more than your average politician does. And yet, we've got a situation where there is no network television coverage of him at all. So no pictures of him boarding Marine One, the helicopter, as he was leaving the White House, no images of him arriving in New York or any of the events he's taking part in. And not only is there not any moving footage, there aren't even any still photographs, because all the photographers at the White House have also agreed not to put out their images in protest at the ban. Because it was on Friday that he picked three media outlets, CNN, Ms Now and Politico, and said they were no longer going to be allowed into the White House to cover events, because he said that they put out fake news and lies. And it just so happened that it was CNN who were supposed to be the pool or shared TV crew covering the president. And the White House took them off that pool rota.

So the other four major television networks all said they were going to refuse to put a replacement crew in in protest at this ban on CNN.

Alex Ritzen (3:38)

Extraordinary level of solidarity from the other TV networks, including Fox News. Is this going to continue, though, because it's fine making the gesture, but in the long term, they're not going to have coverage of things they want, are they?

Sarah Smith (3:54)

It's definitely going to continue any day that CNN was down to be the shared pool TV crew. It's less clear what's going to happen on the days when the other major networks, who have not been banned, were supposed to be providing the coverage of Donald Trump. But what is obvious is that the media are pretty united in their condemnation of this ban. The three prohibited outlets have also launched a legal challenge that will be heard later this week. They say that banning them from the White House is not only an assault on the freedom of the press, which is constitutionally protected in the United States, but it also interferes with the public's right to independent journalism free from government interference.

Alex Ritzen (4:34)

And how much does President Trump need this coverage? I understand he's already looking at ways of creating essentially his own pool coverage of his movements.