In his 41-page ruling Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden claimed the First Amendment requires the Trump administration to give equal access to the AP in the White House if other media outlets are granted the same access.
“The Constitution requires no less,” McFadden wrote.
Elsewhere in the ruling, the judge wrote the AP “cannot be treated worse” than its rival wire services, referring to news outlets Reuters and Bloomberg.
Back in February, the AP learned it was being punished by the White House press office for refusing to update its influential AP stylebook to recognize the “Gulf of America,” formerly the Gulf of Mexico. The punishment, while petty, was nonetheless viewed by the Trump administration as the executive branch’s right to decide which media outlets have access – and which do not – to the President.
Having access to the President is a “privilege,” press secretary Karoline Lavitt has told reporters.
Hundreds of reporters and correspondents have a press pass to the White House and its grounds, which allows them to attend press briefings and use media areas. A much smaller group, the pool, is granted more exclusive access that puts those reporters close to the President himself, such as on Air Force One.
Curtis Houck, of the Media Research Center, says he was embarrassed Judge McFadden wrote an over-the-top ruling that fawned over The Associated Press.
“To go as far as to say that the AP's business model has been ‘poisoned’ and that it's been irreparably harmed,” Houck, quoting from the ruling, complains.
In his flowery ruling, Houck says, the judge failed to address the fact the Trump administration has changed the rules that government the makeup and the rotation schedule for the White House press pool.
The ruling, a preliminary injunction, was stayed for five days by Judge McFadden to give the Trump administration until Sunday to appeal to a higher court, which it has quickly done.
The Associated Press can trace its beginnings to the 1830s, during the Mexican-American War, when five New York City newspapers pooled their resources to report on the war.
In recent years, the AP and its liberal viewpoint have been exposed by media watchdogs such as Media Research Center and by its critics in the right-leaning media.
American Family News uses Associated Press news stories, photos, and videos for AFN.net. A contract clause allows AFN to edit the AP news copy, which is often politically biased, especially in stories related to President Trump.
