As of Friday, Sept. 19, President Donald Trump has announced he is “banning” media outlets CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House briefing room. He ended the Tweet by threatening “other Fake News Media Outlets to follow.” When the journalists for said outlets arrived at the White House on Saturday, they were denied access and had their passes revoked. In solidarity, four other outlets have pulled from the White House press pool, signing a joint statement on how no administration should restrict press access.Â
CNN, MS NOW, and Politico have responded to Trump’s ban by filing a critical First Amendment lawsuit. In the lawsuit, the outlets stated that the ban “could not be a more direct assault on the First Amendment nor a more blatant violation of our most fundamental constitutional principles.”Â
Trump actually isn’t the first president to ban a news outlet from the White House. In 1972, President Richard Nixon banned The Washington Post after they covered the Watergate scandal. Even though he didn’t fully pull the press credentials, the journalists were unable to attend any White House social events, limiting their press coverage of the president.Â
Trump’s banning of media outlets he deems are “fake” is an act of censorship. Censorship is the suppression of words by someone who intends to impose their personal political values on others. One well-known historical example of censorship is during World War II when the Nazi soldiers had book burnings. They targeted works made by Jewish authors, scaring them into silence. By muting the voices from different outlets, it changes the coverage and perspective the nation receives. Regarding Trump, this is sadly not the first time he has clashed with CNN. In 2018, Trump had multiple disagreements with CNN journalist Jim Acosta. During the post-midterm conference, they argued about the Russian investigation, which led to the president calling Acosta a “rude, terrible person.” The person who represents the United States called a journalist a terrible person.Â
The president has a history of silencing those who disagree with him. By restricting the voice of the other political party, he is showing what happens when you don’t share beliefs. There is speculation that Trump is tied to the cancellation of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. Even though the company stated it to be for financial reasons, people cannot help but think it was due to the institution wanting an opportunity to smooth things over with the president after a lawsuit was settled.Â
Remember to vote!
Clearly, the Trump administration’s worst fear is the public using their voice to speak up. So, this is a kind reminder to register to vote and go vote in the midterms this coming November. This link leads to the US Vote Foundation, which shows all of the important information and deadlines regarding voting.Â
Update as of Sept. 24: The journalists of the restricted media outlets are officially allowed back into the White House after judge orders for the access to be restored. This was after the journalists were denied entry following the judge’s ruling to reinstate their access.Â