The Justice Department has opened an antitrust investigation into ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC and Fox News for refusing to cover President Trump last month after the White House banned three news outlets. “Group boycotts among commercial competitors can violate the Sherman Act,” DOJ spokesperson Emily Convington said Saturday, the AP and Reuters reported.
It’s an extraordinary step: using antitrust law to investigate news organizations over a decision about covering the president. Critics say it’s a way to punish networks for standing up for their colleagues.
Why did the TV networks stop covering Trump?
In September, the White House pulled credentials from reporters at CNN, MS NOW and Politico, saying covering the president is “a privilege, not a right.” The five networks in the White House television pool, who share the cost of covering the president and share footage with stations across the country, suspended pool coverage in solidarity. Fox News joined them.
The banned outlets sued. U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly ruled the ban was likely unconstitutional and ordered the White House to “immediately return, reinstate, and restore” their access. The credentials were restored September 24.
Can the government use antitrust law against news networks?
Antitrust law bans competitors from teaming up to boycott, usually to hurt a rival or fix a market. The Justice Department says it’s “simply investigating to determine whether these news organizations have violated the antitrust laws.” But the networks didn’t boycott a competitor; they stopped sharing pool coverage of the government after it banned other journalists. The Supreme Court has long protected collective action meant to influence government, and the First Amendment protects decisions about what news to cover. The networks hadn’t commented as of Saturday.
The probe puts legal and financial pressure on the networks to keep covering the president however the White House treats the press, Reuters noted.
The BeezLoop Take
This is an investigation in search of a crime. A court already found the White House’s ban was likely unconstitutional. The networks responded the way journalists are supposed to, by refusing to let the government pick which reporters get access. Now the Justice Department is threatening them for it.
Even Fox News is a target, which tells you this isn’t about left or right. It’s about whether the government can punish newsrooms for how they decide to cover it. Conservatives would be outraged if a Democratic DOJ did this to Fox alone. They should be outraged now.
The open question: will any of the five networks back down before a single subpoena is issued?
Also on BeezLoop: the White House started taking press badges, and the White House cut CNN from Air Force One.
Sources: AP and Reuters via Al Jazeera · Reuters via ThePrint · Al Jazeera English (video)
