Press Clubs Fight Trump’s White House Media Ban

The Press Club of Long Island was among press organizations which along with newspapers and other media voiced opposition to the move by President Donald Trump banning journalists from three major media outlets from the White House.

However, a U.S. District Court judge responding to a lawsuit brought by the three outlets—CNN, MS NOW and Politico—issued a restraining order directing the White House to “immediately” lift the prohibition.

Judge Timothy Kelly, appointed to his position by Trump in 2017, ruled that the media outlets had shown a “high likelihood of success” in their lawsuit’s determination that their due process rights were violated.

The Press Club of Long Island issued a statement that it “condemns President Trump’s decision to ban CNN, MS NOW and Politico journalists from the White House. Press freedom is at the heart of our democracy and a constitutional right.”

It continued: “The vital role of journalists cannot be overstated. Journalists inform the public and hold power to account. Restricting journalists from the White House undermines the public’s right to factual and independent reporting and only serves to weaken the transparency upon which our democracy is dependent.”

As the founding president in 1974 of the Press Club of Long Island, spurred in encouraging its formation by the jailing of a journalist for not divulging a confidential source, I am proud of its action.

Trump said he was barring access to the White House to the media outlets because, as he wrote on his Truth Social platform: “Media Outlets shouldn’t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES when they’re covering the President of the United States, the Trump Administration, or the United States of America.” He added: “Other Fake News Media Outlets to follow.” He later specifically issued threats against The Washington Post and The New York Times.

The New York Press Club issued a statement saying: “Trump’s latest attack on the First Amendment in banning Politico, MS NOW and CNN from covering the White House is yet another slap in the face to freedom of the press in the United States.”

It went on: “All media outlets, the Congress, Republicans, Democrats and independents, and the public should come together to denounce this breach of American democracy. The president continues to diminish the people’s right to be informed about the news of the day from the White House and limits the public’s right to know by restricting access and admitting only those in agreement with him.”

The founders of the United States, the framers of the U.S. Constitution, created a system of checks-and-balances between the three branches for the federal government—the administrative, legislative and judicial branches—and a free press to serve as a watchdog of them all. Said Thomas Jefferson: “Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost.”

That system should be treasured and live on.