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5 days ago
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The Associated Press said that a reporter was barred from attending a press conference between Donald Trump and India’s prime minister Narendra Modi, the third day that the White House has targeted the news organization for declining to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.
Unlike the past two days, when AP’s reporter was restricted from smaller events in the Oval Office, the news organization said that today the prohibition was on access to the press conference, which is typically open to all credential media.
Julie Pace, the executive editor of the AP, said, “The decision by the White House to block an AP reporter from an open press conference with President Trump and Prime Minister Modi is a deeply troubling escalation of the administration’s continued efforts to punish The Associated Press for its editorial decisions.
“It is a plain violation of the First Amendment, and we urge the Trump administration in the strongest terms to stop this practice.”
She added, “This is now the third day AP reporters have been barred from covering the president – first as a member of the pool, and now from a formal press conference – an incredible disservice to the billions of people who rely on The Associated Press for nonpartisan news.”
On Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that the AP was restricted from access because of its decision to retain the name of the Gulf of Mexico, despite Trump’s executive order changing the name to Gulf of America.
“I was very upfront in my briefing on day one, that if we feel there are lies being pushed by outlets in this room, we are going to hold those lies accountable,” Leavitt said. “And it is a fact that the body of water off the coast of Louisiana is called the Gulf of America.”
The AP said that it would retain the name Gulf of America in its Stylebook because his order “only carries authority within the United States. Mexico, as well as other countries and international bodies, do not have to recognize the name change.”
The AP did say it would change the name of Alaska’s Denali, the tallest mountain in North America, to Mount McKinley. That was another part of Trump’s executive order.
Trump has touted his administration as one that is restoring free speech, but he’s waged attacks on the news media, via litigation and, in the case of his appointed chairman to the FCC, investigation. CNN, The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR, NBC News and other news outlets were booted from their office space at the Pentagon as part of a new rotation program, in which their work area is being given to a list largely made up of conservative and right-wing outlets including Newsmax and One America News Network.
