The International Press Institute (IPI) today urges the Trump administration to reverse its decision to bar the Associated Press (AP) from White House events and Air Force One press pool trips.
The move by the White House follows the decision by AP to continue to refer to the Gulf of Mexico by its internationally recognized name in its widely used style-guide instead of the Gulf of America. AP explained that it would acknowledge the new name Trump had chosen, but because the designation only applied within U.S jurisdiction, as a global news organization it would continue to use the previous title.
IPI firmly opposes the attempt to punish the AP, one of the world’s leading news organisations and a global setter of editorial standards, for its independent editorial decisions. The move comes amid wider pressures on press freedom in the US.
In direct response to the AP’s usage of the term Gulf of Mexico, the administration last week refused to permit correspondents from AP from attending a number of presidential events in the Oval Office and other locations, including barring one journalist access to a news conference with the Indian prime minister, citing the standoff over the name change as justification.
On Friday February 14, the White House then barred an accredited AP reporter and photographer from boarding the presidential plane on which Trump was travelling, again citing the language dispute. Government officials have accused the AP of spreading “lies” and “misinformation” to its global readership by using the term “Gulf of Mexico”.
AP editor-in-chief Julie Pace has written to the White House to protest the decisions and called the decision “a deeply troubling escalation” in the administration’s pressures against the 180-year-old news agency and a violation of free speech rights protected under US law.
“No news organization should face retaliation for its independent editorial policies”, IPI Executive Director Scott Griffen said. “These unjustified restrictions on the AP limit its ability to cover the administration for its millions of readers around the world.
“IPI and our global network call on the U.S administration to end all restrictions on the AP’s access to the White House, presidential events, and the Air Force One press pool, and to fully uphold the First Amendment rights of all news media.”
Griffen noted that the pressure on AP comes amidst a wider spike in verbal attacks on journalists and legal attacks including defamation cases, contributing to a growing threat to press freedom in the United States.
John Daniszewski, AP’s former vice president for standards and chair of IPI’s North American Committee, called the White House attempt to mandate what language AP uses “extremely disturbing.”
As an independent news organization, the AP has always reserved the right to select geographic names that are most understandable to its global audience.
“Putting such outside governmental pressure on the AP’s editorial choices risks undermining both the credibility of the AP and the U.S. government’s claims to be a beacon for press freedom,” he added.
