Four of the five major television networks responsible for providing White House pool coverage of United States President, Donald Trump, have suspended their coverage in solidarity with CNN after the Trump administration barred the network from serving as the designated TV pool provider.
ABC News, CBS News, NBC News and Fox News announced the suspension on Monday, joining CNN, the fifth television pooler, in withdrawing from coverage of Trump’s official events.
The decision means that, for the time being, no major television network will provide pool coverage of Trump’s events, including his scheduled appearances at the White House on Monday and his visit to the United Nations in New York City.
The five networks issued a joint statement defending the role of the media in providing independent information about the government.
“The public has a vital interest in receiving accurate, independent information about its government,” the networks said in the statement.
“No administration should restrict a news organisation because it objects to its reporting.”
The blackout followed the Trump administration’s decision to suspend CNN as the designated TV pool provider on Monday, September 21, leaving no television network assigned to provide pool coverage for the day.
The television pool system allows a designated network to cover presidential events and share the footage with other television outlets.
Fox News Washington bureau chief, Bryan Boughton, who is currently serving as the White House TV pool chair, informed the other networks of the decision to suspend coverage.
“This is to advise that, effective today, the TV pool will not be covering events designated as pool coverage of the President. This follows the White House’s position preventing CNN from fulfilling its duties,” Boughton wrote in an email to the other networks on Monday, according to CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.
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The development comes amid an escalating dispute between the Trump administration and several media organisations over access to the White House.
CNN, MS NOW and Politico have announced that they are suing Trump and three White House officials over the decision to bar the outlets from White House access.
The media organisations allege that the administration’s action violates the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which protects freedom of speech and of the press.
The suspension of pool coverage by the major television networks marks an unusual show of solidarity among competing news organisations and has temporarily disrupted the established system for providing television coverage of presidential events.
It also means that viewers may not receive the usual pooled television footage of Trump’s public engagements through the major networks while the dispute continues.
Earlier, SaharaReporters reported that Trump had described some American media organisations as a “threat” to national security as CNN, MS NOW and Politico prepared to challenge his decision to bar them from the White House.
Trump had made the remarks in a statement defending his decision to restrict access to the three media outlets.
The latest dispute comes as the administration and news organisations remain locked in a broader disagreement over press access and the conditions under which journalists can cover the president.
The joint action by ABC News, CBS News, NBC News and Fox News means that all five television networks that normally participate in the White House TV pool have now declined to provide the designated pool coverage following the administration’s decision involving CNN.