White House Bars AP Journalist From Entering Modi-Trump Press Conference Here Is Why

(MENAFN- Live Mint) The White House blocked an Associated Press journalist from covering a news conference with two major world leaders Thursday, upping the stakes in a disagreement between the news agency and the Trump administration over AP's style decision to stick with the name“Gulf of Mexico” for the body of water that the president rechristened the“Gulf of America .”

An AP reporter was prevented from entering a news conference where President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi answered questions, effectively shutting out thousands of global news outlets that rely on the news organization.

Julie Pace, the AP's senior vice president and executive editor, called it a“deeply troubling escalation" and“a plain violation of the First Amendment” to the U.S. Constitution.

“We urge the Trump administration in the strongest terms to stop this practice,” Pace, who also wrote to Trump's chief of staff on Wednesday, said in a statement.“This is now the third day AP reporters have been barred from covering the president - first as a member of the pool, and now from a formal press conference - an incredible disservice to the billions of people who rely on The Associated Press for nonpartisan news.”

Eugene Daniels, president of the White House Correspondents' Association, issued a statement Thursday supporting the AP.

“The White House is seeking to curtail the press freedoms enshrined in our Constitution, and has admitted publicly they are restricting access to events to punish a news outlet for not advancing the government's preferred language," he said. "Prohibiting journalists from access because of their editorial decisions is viewpoint discrimination.”

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