Fox News is taking heat after joining CNN and other major television networks in suspending televised pool coverage of President Donald Trump. The dispute erupted after the White House prevented CNN from handling its scheduled turn as the primary television pooler. Rather than replace CNN with another network, the remaining members announced that they would stop covering presidential events designated for the television pool. The decision placed Fox alongside CNN, MS NOW, and other outlets fighting the Trump administration’s new press restrictions.
The announcement came from Fox News Washington bureau chief Bryan Boughton, who was serving as the current chair of the television pool. That group consists of ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News, and NBC, which rotate responsibility for recording presidential events and sharing the footage with other news organizations. The arrangement is used when space or security restrictions prevent every television crew from attending. CNN had been scheduled to assume the primary television pool assignment Monday.
“Effective today, the TV pool will not be covering events designated as pool coverage of the President,” Boughton wrote in a message sent to pool members. He connected the suspension to the administration’s treatment of CNN. “This follows the White House’s position preventing CNN from fulfilling its assigned pool duties,” Boughton added. The message was sent Monday morning after the White House schedule omitted CNN from the day’s primary television pool assignment.
As Trending Politics News reported, the group also decided that no substitute network would take CNN’s place in the rotation. “There will be no replacement pool put in place,” Boughton wrote. Although Fox News was speaking through its bureau chief in his capacity as pool chair, the network was also one of the organizations participating in the decision to withhold televised pool coverage. The five networks separately said that no administration should restrict a news organization because it objects to its reporting.
The standoff followed Trump’s decision to bar CNN, MS NOW, and Politico journalists from the White House grounds. Trump announced the move on Friday, September 18th, after years of accusing the three organizations of publishing hostile and inaccurate coverage of his administration. Reporters from the outlets were denied entry the following morning after their White House credentials were deactivated or revoked. The White House has defended the restrictions, while Trump has rejected claims that he is attempting to eliminate freedom of the press.
CNN was supposed to begin its television pool rotation Monday, but the White House schedule didn’t identify a primary television pooler. The network had also been scheduled to provide pool coverage of Trump’s Monday trip to New York ahead of his Tuesday appearance at the United Nations General Assembly. Boughton’s announcement meant the other participating networks wouldn’t step in to provide the shared footage that CNN had been prevented from gathering. The suspension concerned those shared pool assignments rather than every form of television reporting on Trump’s trip.
CNN, MS NOW, and Politico responded to the White House ban by filing a federal lawsuit Monday against Trump and several senior administration officials. The organizations alleged that the administration had engaged in unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination and violated their First Amendment rights by removing their access. The lawsuit also alleged that the administration violated the reporters’ due-process rights by revoking their credentials without notice or an opportunity to respond. Fox News wasn’t among the outlets barred from the White House, but its participation in the television pool suspension effectively placed the network on the same side of the immediate coverage dispute.
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The suspension applies specifically to television pool assignments and doesn’t end all coverage of the president by the participating networks. Boughton said the print and radio pools would continue operating during the standoff. That distinction means reporters can continue producing written and audio coverage, while the television consortium withholds the shared video feed normally supplied from restricted presidential events. The action also doesn’t prevent individual networks from conducting independent reporting outside the pool arrangement.
The pool system has operated for decades, allowing a limited camera crew to cover the president and distribute its footage across the press corps. Fox News previously reported Trump’s announcement barring the three outlets, including his explanation that the action followed years of coverage he considered unfair and inaccurate. Boughton left the duration of the television suspension open, telling the participating networks, “We will provide updates as this situation develops.” No end date for the suspension was announced.