Fox News Washington bureau chief Bryan Boughton, who currently holds the rotating role covering the White House, wrote in an email seen by the BBC on Monday that “effective today, the TV pool will not be covering events designated as pool coverage” of President Trump.
In a joint statement, the five networks said: “The public has a vital interest in receiving accurate, independent information about its government.
“No administration should restrict a news organisation because it objects to its reporting.”
The First Amendment of the US Constitution protects speech and press freedoms.
It 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.
CNN, Politico and MS NOW have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration to “defend the principle that the government does not decide what the press reports”. A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.
In a joint statement on Monday, they 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.”
Trump’s speech to the United Nations on Tuesday was unaffected by the boycott because it will be carried by outlets which are not part of the pool.
But the president’s movements to and from his various New York events, which are usually filmed, could be subject to the blackout.
CNN appears to have taken the decision not to run Trump’s UN speech live, despite it being made available through official UN sources. It should have been the pool news outlet with the president on Tuesday but is no longer travelling with him since his ban.
CNN Chief White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins still attended the UN meetings, where she asked him a question as he spoke to reporters.
“I’m surprised CNN is here covering me… you should not be here covering me,” Trump said, singling out Collins, whom he has frequently criticised and insulted in the past.
She responded by pointing out that the UN, not the White House, accredits journalists to cover the General Assembly.
