Major US television networks have declined to replace CNN’s White House pool crew after the Trump administration barred the network from carrying out its assigned duties.


“The public has a vital interest in receiving accurate, independent information about its government. No administration should restrict a news organization because it objects to its reporting,” ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News and NBC said in a rare joint statement.


The decision means the shared TV pool will not cover events involving President Donald Trump that are designated for pool coverage, according to an email from Fox News Washington bureau chief Bryan Boughton, who currently chairs the pool.


“This follows the White House’s position preventing CNN from fulfilling its assigned pool duties,” Boughton wrote. “There will be no replacement pool put in place.”


Under a longstanding arrangement, the five networks rotate responsibility for filming the president and providing live footage to one another and the wider press corps. Local television stations, newspaper websites and media outlets worldwide rely on the shared coverage.


“This is to advise that, effective today, the TV pool will not be covering events designated as pool coverage of the President,” Boughton wrote.


CNN correspondent Kaitlan Collins said the decision means “that when the president does anything today, there will be no TV camera with the president that is broadcasting and sharing this footage” with the wider press corps and networks worldwide.


The dispute escalated on September 18 after Trump said he was “banning” CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House. Reporters from all three outlets were turned away from the White House complex on September 19, prompting the organizations to file a First Amendment lawsuit challenging the restriction.


CNN had been scheduled to serve as the TV pool on September 21 and accompany Trump to New York for the annual United Nations General Assembly. However, the White House did not designate a primary TV pool network in its September 20 night schedule.


Trump reiterated the ban on September 21 in a Truth Social post, writing, “Trump bans CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from White House.”


CNN said its reporting would continue despite the restrictions.


“CNN’s mission to report on the U.S. government will continue regardless of any attempts to restrict physical access to the White House and other government buildings, or any other attempts to impede our journalism,” the network said.


“We have a right under the U.S. Constitution to do our reporting without hindrance or interference from the government and this ban is an illegal assault on this fundamental right,” CNN added.


By Vafa Guliyeva