Key facts
- The lawsuit argues that media bans violate the public's right to know what the government is doing.
- The Knight First Amendment Institute and the Media Freedom & Information Access Clinic at Yale Law School filed the suit.
- Plaintiffs include a human rights advocate, a political journalist, a history professor, a civics teacher, a legal journalist, and a student journalist.
A new lawsuit filed on behalf of six citizens argues that President Donald Trump's administration's practice of banning news organizations from White House premises violates the public's fundamental right to receive independent reporting about the government. The suit, filed in federal district court in New York, contends that such bans amount to the White House deciding what information Americans can access, effectively turning independent reporting into government propaganda.
The plaintiffs, who rely on White House news for their professional work, are represented by the Knight First Amendment Institute and the Media Freedom & Information Access Clinic at Yale Law School. They argue that the First Amendment protects the public's right to know about government activities. The lawsuit follows previous legal actions by news organizations like CNN, MS NOW, Politico, and The Associated Press against the administration's media access policies.