The White House Correspondents Association (WHCA) denounced the Trump administration for the second time Thursday following the ouster of the Associated Press's president from the reporter pool by editorial decision.
“The White House decision to ban Associated Press reporters from today's press conference with President Trump and Prime Minister Modi is a very unfortunate escalation of an already unacceptable situation,” said the association's president, Eugene Daniels wrote in a statement.
“Let me be clear: The White House is trying to reduce our constitutional freedom of press and limit access to events to punish news outlets for not advancing government's preferred language. I publicly acknowledge that I am doing it.”
The Associated Press said it was warned of the removal by White House officials on Tuesday. He said he had been troubled by the publication's decision to use Gulf of Mexico terminology in place of the US Gulf after issuing President Trump's recent executive order. .
“Today, we are not renaming the editorial standards from the White House and President Donald Trump's executive order and the Gulf of Mexico as US Gulf, the AP will not access events in oval offices. “We were informed that this afternoon, the Associated Press reporter was prevented from participating in signing the executive order,” executive editor Julie Pace said. I said Following the incident.
“I am amazed that the Trump administration will punish the Associated Press for independent journalism. Restricting access to an oval office based on the content of the Associated Press' speech will strictly enforce public access to independent news. Not only does it interfere, it clearly violates the initial fix.”
The outlet, which has established editorial standards for journalism and serves as a wire for millions of news sites around the world, said Trump's order is only powered within the United States. Mexico, like other countries and international organizations, does not need to be aware of the name change.
“The Gulf of Mexico has been holding that name for over 400 years. The Associated Press refers to it by its original name, acknowledging the new name that Trump chose,” the AP wrote in it. guidance It was published in late January.
“As a global news agency that promotes news around the world, the AP must make it easy for place names and geography to be recognized by all audiences.”
Despite the memo, White House press chief Karoline Leavitt defended the administration's stance of not acknowledging the Associated Press, declaring that accessing the president's events is a “privilege” and for some reason, reporting at any time He claimed that the invitation could be revoked.
The WHCA is currently urging the Trump administration to “change courses” that label the White House decision as “point discrimination.”
“The attempt to censor government in the free press risks the ruthless impact of journalists who work on behalf of the American people without fear or favor,” Daniels said in a statement.
“This is a textbook violation of the President's own executive order, not just the First Amendment, but also the end of freedom of speech and federal censorship. We call the White House again, quickly reversed the course and went on to the AP journalists. Restores access to the site.”
