CNN, Politico and MS NOW have sued the Trump administration after the three US media outlets were barred from the White House.
President Donald Trump announced the ban on Friday, accusing the organisations of writing “fiction or lies” about his team. The companies said their reporters were denied access to the building on Saturday.
In a joint statement on Monday, they said they were pursuing legal action to “defend the principle that the government does not decide what the press reports”.
Major US TV networks later announced they would suspend their White House pooled coverage of Trump, leaving a potential gap as he heads to New York for the United Nations General Assembly.
The First Amendment forbids the government from “abridging” the freedom of the press – language that courts have traditionally interpreted as preventing the government from discriminating against the media based on the content of their coverage.
The statement from CNN, Politico and MS NOW said: “Without notice or process, the White House revoked our journalists’ credentials because it objected to our reporting.
“Left unchallenged, this threatens press freedom and the public’s right to independent journalism free from government interference.”
