Par- Radio ML
The White House announced yesterday that it will decide which journalists are allowed to cover President Donald Trump's activities, stripping an independent media association of its role that it has performed for decades in this field.
This step comes amid a legal dispute between the White House and the Associated Press, which the White House has barred from entering the Oval Office and Air Force One, due to a dispute over renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
White House spokeswoman Caroline Levitt said that the White House Correspondents' Association had long "dictated" who could join a group of reporters allowed access to "special areas."
She added, "Not anymore. I am proud to announce that we will return the power to the people who read your newspapers, watch your TV programs, and listen to your radio stations."
She confirmed that the group of journalists covering Trump's activities will be determined "by the White House media officials."
The White House Correspondents' Association condemned the move, and its president, Eugene Daniels, said that this measure "tears apart the independence of the free press in the United States," and means that "the government will choose the journalists who cover (the president's activities)."
Levitt said that "old media" will still be allowed to join the group of journalists inside the White House, but this right will also be granted to media outlets "that have never been allowed to participate in this enormous responsibility" despite deserving it.
The White House began barring Associated Press journalists from covering presidential events two weeks ago due to the agency's decision to continue using the name "Gulf of Mexico," despite an executive order from Trump to rename it "Gulf of America."
An American judge on Monday refused to allow the agency to return immediately to the White House but set a date next month for a more comprehensive hearing on the case.