The four US television networks that share White House coverage with CNN — ABC, CBS, Fox News and NBC — said they will stop airing events designated as presidential pool coverage, in support of CNN, which the administration barred from the grounds, according to The Guardian and the Hindustan Times.
“Effective today, the TV pool will not be covering events designated as pool coverage of the President,” Bryan Boughton, Fox News’s Washington bureau chief and the pool chair, wrote in an email to pool members, as quoted by The Guardian. “There will be no replacement pool put in place.” The pool is the arrangement under which the five networks take turns covering presidential events and distribute the material to other outlets. Without it, Monday’s ribbon-cutting for the White House’s new helipad went out without audio: on the official feed, Trump’s remarks were drowned out by the sound of the helicopter engine, according to the Hindustan Times. All five networks, CNN included, signed a joint statement: “The public has a vital interest in receiving accurate, independent information about its government. No administration should restrict a news organization because it objects to its reporting.” The Washington Post said it will hold back its photographs of presidential events until after midnight Eastern time, and The New York Times said it would not publish or distribute images from the White House still photography pool on Monday. The print, radio and wire pool kept following the president’s movements.