Reporters locked out of White House grounds as Trump’s ban takes effect

Washington: Reporters and photographers from three major news organisations, including cable news channel CNN, were locked out of the White House grounds and had their passes seized after President Donald Trump banned them because he dislikes their journalism.

CNN’s Betsy Klein, MS-NOW’s Akayla Gardner and Politico’s Cheyenne Haslett were reporting from the streets outside the White House on Saturday (US time) after failing to gain entry to their usual on-site offices.

It came the day after Trump declared he was permanently banning the three outlets because they produced “purposely negative stories”, in a dramatic and potentially unconstitutional escalation of his war against the media, which he labels “fake news”.

The affected outlets are expected to launch a legal challenge imminently. Trump’s move also triggered broad condemnation from across the media sector, including the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) and publishers such as The New York Times .

All three outlets reported that their staffers’ press passes were confiscated by Secret Service agents when they attempted to enter the White House grounds on Saturday morning. MS NOW said one of its producers was still able to enter the premises, however.

CNN’s Klein was broadcasting from the corner of 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue on Saturday. “We are going to continue to do our job whether it’s inside the White House grounds or right here at this intersection,” she said. “We can do our job anywhere.”

In a statement, CNN said its mission to report on the US government would continue regardless of attempts to restrict physical access to the White House or other government buildings.

“We have a right under the US Constitution to do our reporting without hindrance or interference from the government, and this ban is an illegal assault on this fundamental right,” the network said.

Jacqui Heinrich, the WHCA president and a White House correspondent for News Corp’s Fox News, said the revocation of access was a violation of the First Amendment and called for its immediate reversal.

“The implications extend beyond these organisations: a standard used to exclude one news outlet because of its coverage could be applied to any outlet in the future,” Heinrich said.

“The American people, through a free and independent press, must be able to scrutinise those elected to power, regardless of whether government officials view it favourably.

“That’s why courts have repeatedly held that once the White House provides access to journalists, it cannot deny that access arbitrarily or based on the content of their reporting.”

Trump signalled on Friday that he expected the ban to be challenged in court, and that he believed the result might depend on the particular judge.

“I don’t think that a court should allow fake news to be written day after day after day,” he said. “I think that somebody has a right to keep them away.”