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Home • Politics

White House Blocks CNN, NYT and Other Media Outlets From Press Briefing

In an unprecedented move, selected outlets were restricted from attending a press briefing. 
White House Blocks CNN, NYT and Other Media Outlets From Press Briefing
Pool
By Danielle Kwateng-Clark · Updated October 26, 2020

After weeks of complaining about mainstream media outlets on Twitter and sending his representatives to address “fake news,” President Donald Trump put his foot down in an unprecedented way

Friday afternoon, the White House barred The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, CNN, BBC and Politico from attending an informal Sean Spicer-led press briefing.

 

Reporting from @CNN's White House team on being excluded from attending a gaggle this PM pic.twitter.com/qOVZFf6RB1

— Elizabeth Landers (@ElizLanders) February 24, 2017

 

 

CNN was blocked from WH @PressSec's media gaggle today. This is our response: pic.twitter.com/8SfY2uYKEI

— CNN Communications (@CNNPR) February 24, 2017

 

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Reports of the closed-door meeting were quickly shared to the world by journalists on Twitter who contend there was a list of those allowed in, and those not allowed.

You-cant-sit-with-us, style. 

“We invited the pool so everyone was represented,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told the Associated Press, who along with Time, choose to boycott the meeting entirely. “We decided to add a couple of additional people beyond the pool. Nothing more than that.”

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Who was allowed in your ask?

Major networks ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox. In addition to right-leaning publications like The Washington Times, One America News Network and the ever-problematic Steve Bannon-led Breitbart. 

“Nothing like this has ever happened at the White House in our long history of covering multiple administrations of different parties,” Dean Baquet, the Times‘ executive editor, said in a statement. “We strongly protest the exclusion of The New York Times and the other news organizations. Free media access to a transparent government is obviously of crucial national interest.”

All. Of. This. And it’s only been a month.