Since January 2025, we’ve wondered how much the mainstream media would put up with from President Trump before making a stand.
Some thought the line was crossed when the Associated Press was barred from the Oval Office for refusing to toe the line over the Gulf of Mexico.
Others wondered whether calling a female journalist “piggy” might prove to be a step too far.
Or last year’s rescinding of Biden-era protections that limited when prosecutors could seize journalists’ records in leak investigations or suing the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the BBC for billions of dollars.
Yet, none of the above triggered serious collective action by the media.
That changed this week when the president banned three new outlets – CNN, MS NOW and Politico – from the White House.
The other four news organisations – ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox News – that along with CNN make up the White House TV pool said that until CNN was reinstated, they would not be providing TV pool coverage of the president.
In a statement, the group said, “no administration should restrict a news organisation because it objects to its reporting.”
The three banned news outlets sued the Trump administration, alleging “viewpoint discrimination” and “due process violations”.
In court filings, the Department of Justice pushed back, asserting that White House access was a “privilege”! (How, one has to ask, do media organisations earn that privilege? Quite clearly, by saying nice things about the president. That’s not how it should work.)
Trump himself doubled down, as he tends to do, posting on Truth Social: “The White House is not instituting an assault on the Free Press, something which I cherish. It is instituting an assault on the FAKE NEWS, something that has grown like Cancer.”
The court case was heard yesterday and the judge has today ordered a temporary lifting of the ban, for 14 days, saying it is likely unconstitutional.
Phew! But we’re not out of the woods yet. It’s not, yet, a permanent lifting.
The White House (and the DoJ) is clearly abusing its power and attacking the press. What they are saying is cynical and dishonest in the extreme.
Global media freedom bodies know the importance of this moment. In a joint statement earlier this week, they said: “Press freedom will not be lost in one dramatic act. It is weakened over time by people in power making choices in pursuit of more control. That’s why the decision to ban media outlets from the White House matters for all of us.”
The media must continue to fight back, because if such abuse of the free press is allowed to stand, the abuse will only get worse.
The line has at last been found and crossed.
You can catch James Evelegh’s regular column in the InPubWeekly newsletter, which you can register to receive here.
