(Bloomberg) — A federal judge denied a request by the Associated Press to get rid of a new White House policy that the outlet says violates a court order intended to restore full access to cover the president.
US District Judge Trevor McFadden’s injunction took effect April 14 but the AP said in court papers that its reporters and photographers continued to be excluded from the small, rotating pool of media outlets that cover President Donald Trump’s day-to-day activities.
The White House this week announced a policy change getting rid of a dedicated slot for wire services. The AP, along with Reuters and Bloomberg News, had for decades been permanent members of the smaller group of journalists with access to the president in spaces like the Oval Office and Air Force One where access is limited by space.
“I don’t intend to micromanage the White House,” said McFadden during a hearing on Friday in Washington federal court. “I think they are entitled to a presumption of good faith in their actions,” he said.
While McFadden expressed concern that the AP wasn’t granted access to the press pool for three consecutive days following the injunction, he said it was too soon to draw any conclusions.
“The proof is in the pudding,” said McFadden, noting that there would be strong evidence of discrimination if he witnessed the AP “repeatedly receiving second class treatment,” especially compared to peer wire services. “If there was evidence of noncompliance that would be a very serious problem and there would be significant consequences,” he said.
The news agency sued the administration in February when the White House press office started limiting the access of AP reporters and photographers after the wire service refused to update its style guide to rename the “Gulf of Mexico” the “Gulf of America” following a Trump executive order.
McFadden, who was confirmed to the Washington federal bench during Trump’s first term, ruled that the administration could be selective about media outlets entitled to one-on-one sitdowns or other exclusive access to the president, but that it couldn’t treat the AP differently from its peers in the White House pool, citing the First Amendment.
McFadden paused his order to give the Justice Department time to ask an appeals court to step in. But the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit didn’t rule on the government’s request to keep McFadden’s injunction on hold, effectively allowing it to take effect on April 14.
Several days after McFadden’s order took effect, the AP said in a court filing that even under the White House’s new policy opening up the wire service pool seat to print outlets, its reporters still should have been in the rotation for a pool spot this week and was not chosen.
The White House subsequently announced a new policy eliminating a guaranteed seat for newswires, instead moving to an ad hoc system where the press secretary picks poolers each day. Leaders of AP, Reuters, and Bloomberg News issued statements after the change, saying that the significant reduction in access for newswires would ultimately harm the quality of coverage.
“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,” said Bloomberg Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait. “We deeply regret the decision to remove that permanent level of scrutiny and accountability.”
The AP said it continued to be excluded from the four spots reserved for photojournalists as well. The wire service argued that the president shouldn’t be given discretion over the process as outlined by the policy.
McFadden said the new policy seemed neutral. “The policy on its face is not necessarily problematic, but the results for the last few days give me some concern that the defendants aren’t proceeding with compliance,” he said.
“At this point the White House is in compliance and we should let this play out,” said Jane Lyons, an attorney for the government.
The wire service said the administration had allowed it into a White House event open to a larger group of credentialed media organizations this week, which was also part of McFadden’s order.
The case is Associated Press v. Budowich, 25-cv-532, US District Court, District of Columbia.
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