The
White House agreed Friday to allow CNN reporter Jim Acosta back after
a judge ruled that the star journalist was improperly banned following a
testy exchange at a press conference with President Donald Trump.
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| Jim Acosta CNN Reporter back to White House beat, temporarily |
Trump spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said “in response to the court, we will temporarily reinstate the reporter’s hard pass.”
But she left open the possibility of seeking to remove Acosta’s
access later and said new rules would be imposed to ensure fair and
orderly press conferences.
Trump said that rules and regulations were being drafted to govern
such gatherings, where the president or his representatives often accuse
journalists — Acosta in particular — of being overly hostile.
“We have to practice decorum. We want total freedom of the press,”
Trump told reporters, adding later in an interview with Fox News: “If he
misbehaves, we’ll throw him out.”
In fact, Trump himself frequently speaks harshly to reporters, for
example last week telling another CNN correspondent several times that
her question was “stupid.”
He also routinely describes journalists he does not approve of, and the media in general, as “enemies of the people.”
Acosta often aggressively questions the White House on its attitude
toward journalists and has been criticised even by some in the media for
becoming part of the story he is meant to be covering.
On November 7, the day he was stripped of his pass, Acosta had riled
Trump by refusing to give up the microphone at a news conference when he
considered that Trump was evading his question.
Trump responded by branding Acosta a “rude, terrible person.”
CNN cast the controversy as a question of free speech, which is protected under the constitution’s first amendment.
In his ruling Friday, Judge Timothy Kelly stressed that he had only
found the procedure for expelling Acosta illegal and that free speech
did not enter the equation.
“I want to be very clear that I have not determined that the First
Amendment was violated,” he said in the Washington courtroom, adding
that further hearings would be held on that aspect.
The US Justice Department’s lawyer, James Burnham, argued that Acosta
had “disrupted” last week’s news conference and that “there is no First
Amendment right to access the White House.”
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However, major media outlets took up Acosta’s cause. Tellingly,
Trump’s most friendly outlet, Fox News, joined the suit calling for
Acosta’s pass to be returned.
“We are gratified with this result and we look forward to a full
resolution in the coming days,” CNN said in a statement. “Our sincere
thanks to all who have supported not just CNN, but a free, strong and
independent American press.”
Shortly after the ruling, Acosta returned to the White House, telling fellow journalists that “this was a test.”
“Journalists need to know that their First Amendment rights are sacred,” he said.
The spat over Acosta has prompted an unusually public show of unity between America’s powerful media organisations.
Those backing CNN’s court action included the Associated Press,
Bloomberg, First Look Media Works, Gannett, the National Press Club
Journalism Institute, NBC News, The New York Times, Politico, Press
Freedom Defense Fund, EW Scripps Company, USA Today and The Washington
Post.
“Whether the news of the day concerns national security, the economy
or the environment, reporters covering the White House must remain free
to ask questions,” the media groups said in a joint statement.
After the judge’s ruling, the White House Correspondents’ Association
president, Olivier Knox, cheered a decision that “made it clear that
the White House cannot arbitrarily revoke a White House press pass.”
“We thank all of the news outlets and individual reporters who stood
up in recent days for the vital role a free and independent news media
plays in our republic,” he said.
