New York — United States-based news organisations, including the Associated Press, Bloomberg, New York Times, Reuters, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post have joined a statement affirming the importance of a free press after President Donald Trump barred journalists from CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House.
The statement, organised by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), reads as follows:
“Freedom of the Press is a cornerstone of the U.S. Constitution.
“The First Amendment protects the right of the press to report without fear of censorship or retaliation by those in power.
“It upholds the rights of the American people to be informed.
“No news organisation should be punished by the government for exercising its right to report, as successive court rulings have established over decades.
“The decision to ban CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House sets a dangerous precedent, one in which the President decides what the American people can know and from whom they can know it.
“We stand together as news organisations in our firm defense of a free press and in condemning any attempts to restrict their ability to report on the government.”
You can see the full statement and signatories here.
Commenting on the statement, CPJ CEO Jodie Ginsberg said: “Enough is enough.
“The role of the free press is to hold power to account, and governments should never dictate who gets to report on them.
“It’s vital that all of us who support a free and vibrant US press stand together in its defense.”
