The Trump administration’s decision to exclude reporters from The Associated Press, Bloomberg and Reuters from Air Force One for the president’s first overseas trip violates First Amendment principles and is a disservice to millions of people who rely on the wires for their news.
The Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing (SABEW) questions the administration’s motivation in taking such unwarranted action. We fail to understand why the wire services, with their deep reservoir of knowledge about international finance and economics, were excluded from this trip.
SABEW endorses the statement of protest from the White House Correspondents’ Association, which says changing the rules for the Air Force One press pool “is a disservice to every American who deserves to know what their highest elected leader is up to, as quickly as possible.”
SABEW’s First Amendment Committee points to an earlier statement by Bloomberg Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait about the limits placed on the access AP, Bloomberg and Reuters have to the White House.
“For decades, the daily presence of the wire services in the press pool has ensured that investors and voters across the United States and around the world can rely on accurate real-time reporting on what the president says and does,” Micklethwait said. “We deeply regret the decision to remove that permanent level of scrutiny and accountability.”
The Trump administration should reverse course and include the wire services in future Air Force One trips.
Here’s a link to the WHCA statement:
Statement on the Unprecedented Exclusion of Wires on International Trip | White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA)
SABEW is the largest association of business journalists. The nonprofit organization advocates for the protection of the First Amendment and a free press.
