Staff from MS NOW, CNN and Politico were denied entry to the White House on Saturday, a day after Donald Trump announced a ban on the three outlets.
An MS NOW correspondent and cameraman were turned away at about 8am after their hard passes were revoked. Correspondent Akayla Gardner said she was told her pass had been disabled when she tried to swipe into the building, and that a security guard told her the decision was “above him”.
CNN reporter Betsy Klein and a cameraman were also seen attempting to enter the White House grounds before leaving without their badges. Politico said reporter Cheyenne Haslett was stopped by the Secret Service and had her pass confiscated.
MS NOW, formerly known as MSNBC, said it intended to take “any and all steps necessary to defend our First Amendment rights and the essential role of independent journalism in our democracy”.
“The White House belongs to the American people and the decisions made inside are funded by our tax dollars,” the organisation said.
CNN said its mission to report on the US government would continue “regardless of any attempts to restrict physical access to the White House and other government buildings, or any other attempts to impede our journalism”.
“We will not be deflected from our duty to hold the government and other public bodies to account,” CNN added. “CNN stands fully behind our White House team.”
Politico editor-in-chief Jonathan Greenberger said the outlet stood by Ms Haslett and “all reporters here covering the White House”. He said the organisation would “vigorously defend our First Amendment rights”.
The president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, Fox News reporter Jacqui Heinrich, said the organisation “stands in defense of our colleagues at CNN, MSNOW, and Politico who are being singled out for doing their jobs”.
Trump says he is targeting ‘fake news’
Mr Trump justified the White House media ban on Friday by saying he was “tired of reading and seeing fake news” from the three outlets. He did not identify any specific reports, and later said he disliked “dishonest press”.
He has also threatened to bar other news organisations from the White House, although no further announcements had been made by Saturday morning.
The dispute follows earlier clashes between the president and news organisations. During his first term, the White House attempted to remove the press pass of then-CNN correspondent Jim Acosta after a testy exchange with Mr Trump. CNN sued and a federal judge ordered the pass to be restored.
Last year, the president also took steps to bar the Associated Press from White House coverage after it declined to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America”. The organisation sued on First Amendment grounds, and a federal judge later ruled that the White House must restore its access to presidential spaces. A federal appeals court nevertheless allowed the administration temporarily to bar the AP from smaller restricted areas, with the legal dispute continuing.
CBS News legal contributor Jessica Levinson said the latest action “smacks of content-based discrimination”.
“That’s the primary thing that the First Amendment guards against,” she said.
