DOJ opens antitrust probe into networks after coordinated retaliation over White House press pool boycott
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The Justice Department has launched an antitrust investigation into five television networks over their coordinated suspension of White House press pool coverage, a move tied to CNN’s exclusion by President Donald Trump and his White House ban on three outlets.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced an antitrust inquiry into five television networks after they collectively halted White House press pool coverage in September, a dramatic display of media solidarity that now faces scrutiny under the Sherman Act. The investigation is examining whether the coordinated suspension, undertaken in response to President Donald Trump’s decision to bar CNN and two other media outlets from the White House, amounted to an unlawful group boycott.
"Group boycotts among commercial competitors can violate the Sherman Act," the Justice Department said in a statement, adding that the Antitrust Division is assessing possible violations.
The television press pool, which includes ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox News and CNN, distributes broadcast feeds of White House events to other outlets. The pool’s chair said the suspension followed the White House’s decision to prevent CNN from fulfilling its pool duties. The networks later resumed coverage, but the episode exposed how fragile press access has become under Trump’s combative treatment of the media.
President Trump announced on September 18 that he was banning CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House complex, citing concerns over their coverage. The outlets filed a lawsuit claiming the ban infringed on their constitutional free-speech rights. A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order on September 24, blocking enforcement of the ban and requiring the White House to restore the outlets’ press passes for two weeks. A final ruling is pending.
The New York Times reported that the Justice Department’s probe now includes ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC and Fox News. The networks have not responded to requests for comment. On the day the pool suspended coverage, other outlets with photographers in the White House pool, such as Reuters, Getty Images, The New York Times and The Washington Post, agreed not to release photos taken on September 21 until after midnight the following day, underscoring the broader disruption created by the standoff.