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Washington Post, TVNewser

Networks Planning Joint Response After Clashes With Trump Campaign

Nov 23, 2015  •  Post A Comment

A meeting involving the news operations of ABC, CBS and NBC along with CNN and Fox News was planned today to deal with a battle that has been intensifying between news organizations and the Donald Trump presidential campaign.

The Washington Post reports that battle lines have formed over the issue of access, with news operations unhappy about being relegated to media “pens” during campaign events.

Things apparently got heated Friday as the Trump campaign allegedly made threats to blacklist reporters who failed to go along with the campaign’s demands.

TVNewser reports: “In an incident captured on video by a CNN journalist Friday, Trump’s campaign manager Corey Lewandowski threatened to pull the credentials of CNN’s Noah Gray in retaliation for leaving a campaign-designated ‘press pen’ to cover a protest during a Trump rally.”

The video is posted by TVNewser here.

TVNewser adds: “According to the video, Lewandowski told another campaign staffer ‘Hey: Tell Noah, get back in the pen or he’s f—ing blacklisted.’”

Gray tweeted after the incident: “.@CLewandowski_ :’inside the pen or I pull your credentials’ as I film crowd reax to protestor this evening.”

Another hassle reportedly took place Friday at a Trump campaign event in Spartanburg, S.C., where reporters clashed with Lewandowski again, along with Trump press secretary Hope Hicks.

The Washington Post reports: “When the journalists tried to interview voters before Trump’s speech, they were ordered to return to the press pen, under threat of losing their credentials. They later defied an order by Hicks to remain in the press area, a small area bordered by bicycle rack-like barriers, while Trump greeted supporters on a rope line afterward.”

The Post adds: “According to people at multiple networks, senior managers from the five leading TV news networks — ABC News, CBS News, CNN, Fox and NBC News — will discuss their response in an effort to push back against what they deem harsh and restrictive behavior by Trump’s managers, including his top aide, campaign manager Corey Lewandowski.”

5 Comments

  1. If the campaign pulls the credentials of one of their reporters, the network could simply stop reporting on the Trump campaign. Problem solved.

  2. Just another example of how Trump and his political organization fails to recognize how they are making his candidacy less of a factor day by day. Not to worry – even if he somehow survives his own idiocy and gets the party nomination – does anyone really believe that Trump will actually step aside from his business empire to accept?

  3. Spot on WriterGuy and TVGuy.

  4. It is really hard for me to imagine Trump putting all of his assets into a blind trust, which is, I believe, what he legally must do if elected president. On the other hand, it’s almost impossible for me to imagine him actually getting elected, or for that matter, even nominated.

  5. The American public will actually support any push back against bias media. Watch the polling numbers. Picking a fight with media is a strategy that will resonate with the public. If media can’t pretend to be neutral well enough to fool the public there will be a lot of media people looking for jobs.

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