Well, there it is: the White House press credential, now apparently subject to the same robust constitutional standard as a bouncer deciding whether you look like trouble outside a Revere bar.
On Saturday, reporters for CNN, MS NOW and Politico were denied entry to the White House after President Donald Trump announced he was barring the outlets over coverage he called “fake news.” AP reported that the reporters’ badges were deactivated and confiscated when they arrived for work.
The president announced the ban Friday and said other outlets could follow. That is not an editorial disagreement, pal; it is the government deciding which reporters may enter the building where the government does its business. The reporters cover the people spending public money, exercising public power and, occasionally, acting like a CB-radio caller who discovered the transmit button after three Michelobs.
Politico, CNN and MS NOW each indicated they were considering or would pursue steps to defend First Amendment rights. The White House Correspondents’ Association called for their access to be restored, warning that a standard used against one outlet could be used against any outlet. Revolutionary concept, really: if officials can punish reporters for coverage they dislike, it eventually becomes everybody’s problem — not just the folks presently stuck outside the gate holding an empty badge sleeve.
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Featured image: Latrobe White House cropa2.jpg by Benjamin Henry Latrobe, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
