Six plaintiffs challenge Trump’s media restrictions
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on MyJoyOnline
Six journalists, academics and press freedom advocates have filed a case in a federal court in New York to challenge the Trump administration’s restrictions on some media outlets’ access. They are asking for the measures to be declared unconstitutional under the First Amendment and their enforcement to be blocked, according to court documents cited by the BBC.
Six academics, press freedom advocates and journalists have filed a case in a federal court in New York to challenge restrictions imposed by Donald Trump’s administration on media access to the White House. They are asking the court to declare the bans unconstitutional under the First Amendment and prevent them from being enforced, according to court documents.
The plaintiffs say journalists can no longer do their jobs properly without access to information released by the White House. They argue that the possibility of withdrawing a media outlet’s access after criticism of the president prompts newsrooms to change their coverage, according to the complaint filed by the Knight First Amendment Institute and Yale’s Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic.
The case adds to a lawsuit brought by CNN, Politico and MS NOW over attempts to restrict their access. The White House has also prevented Associated Press journalists from entering certain areas, including the Oval Office, and barred a correspondent for The Independent from covering a presidential trip to Iowa, according to information cited by MyJoyOnline.
