WASHINGTON — Major U.S. television networks have suspended their shared White House television pool coverage following the Trump administration’s decision to bar reporters from CNN, MS NOW and POLITICO from the White House.
The television pool is made up of ABC News, CBS News, NBC News, Fox News and CNN, which take turns providing camera crews to cover presidential events and share the footage with other news organizations. The system is particularly important for events where there is not enough space for every media outlet to send its own crew.
Bryan Boughton, Fox News’ Washington bureau chief and the current chair of the television pool, informed members on September 21 that the pool would no longer cover events designated for presidential pool coverage. He said the decision followed the White House preventing CNN from carrying out its assigned pool duties.
The decision means that major television networks will not provide the customary shared video feed for many of President Donald Trump’s public events. The White House continues to produce its own video stream of presidential appearances, but the traditional independent television pool is currently not operating.
The dispute began after Trump announced that CNN, MS NOW and POLITICO would be barred from the White House. The three organizations subsequently filed a federal lawsuit seeking to restore their access, arguing that the restrictions violate constitutional protections for the press.
In a joint statement, the five television networks said the public has an interest in receiving accurate and independent information about the government and argued that administrations should not restrict news organizations because of their reporting.
The suspension also affects coverage of Trump’s trip to New York for the United Nations General Assembly, where the traditional television pool would normally provide footage of the president’s activities to broadcasters and other media organizations. Print and radio press pools, however, have continued operating.
The situation has created an unusual break in the long-standing system used by television networks to collectively cover the president, while the legal dispute over White House press access continues.
