The war on Iran’s journalists
Over 30 years ago, in the northern Iranian city of Rasht, Seyed Hossein Ziabari decided to launch a magazine. Called Hatef, the Arabic and Persian for “Voice”, it was a journal of culture and society, focused especially on the endangered Gilaki language spoken in this rainy, lush valley by the Caspian. Hatef grew swiftly into a serious operation, with a large newsroom of young journalists, all squeezed into the basement of a low-rise apartment. Ziabari also had an editor-in-chief, Nasrin Pourhamrang, a calligrapher-turned-writer. Conveniently, she was also his wife.
In latest media crackdown, White House limits newswire access to Trump
Wire services including Reuters and Bloomberg News will no longer hold a permanent slot in the small pool of reporters who cover President Donald Trump, the White House said on Tuesday, as it moves to exert greater control over who gets to ask him questions and report on his statements in real time.
The decision comes after the Trump administration last week lost a court challenge brought by another wire service, the Associated Press, over its earlier exclusion from the press pool.
U.S. judge allows Trump’s AP Oval Office ban to stand over use of Gulf of Mexico name
A federal judge on Monday denied a request by the Associated Press to restore full access for the news agency’s journalists after President Donald Trump’s administration barred them for continuing to refer to the Gulf of Mexico in coverage.
U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, a Trump appointee, declined to immediately grant the AP’s request for a temporary injunction restoring its access to the Oval Office and Air Force One during a hearing in Washington federal court.
Associated Press Loses Its First Court Battle With the Trump White House
The Associated Press’ war with the Trump White House suffered its first loss when a judge declined to restore its Oval Office and Air Force One access. This legal scuffle is in no way over, but for now, the AP and their fake news reporters are barred from certain events at the White House. Still, the judge’s opinion also carried a warning that the White House was skating on thin ice (via NYT):
Scoop: Why Trump targets AP
One of the big reasons President Trump is limiting AP reporters' White House access is to protest what aides see as years of liberal word choices that the wire service's influential stylebook spread across mainstream media, according to top White House officials.
White House Blocks Reporter From Oval Office Over ‘Gulf Of America’ Battle, AP Says
The White House blocked an Associated Press reporter from entering the Oval Office on Tuesday over the AP’s refusal to use “Gulf of America,” the Associated Press said in a statement on Tuesday evening.
Leavitt defends banning AP from Oval Office over ‘Gulf of America’ stance
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended a decision by the White House on Tuesday to keep The Associated Press out of the pool of reporters allowed inside the Oval Office to cover an executive order signing with President Trump and billionaire Elon Musk.
“We reserve the right to decide who gets to go into the Oval Office,” Leavitt said during a briefing with reporters on Wednesday when asked about the move, calling it a “privilege to cover the White House.”
Trump White House bars Associated Press reporter for a second day. AP signals legal action
Out with the oldspeak. In with President Trump’s newspeak — or else.
That’s the apparent message as the Trump White House tries to punish a preeminent news outlet for its editorial decision-making.
On Tuesday the White House broke with decades of precedent and blocked Associated Press reporters from attending two of President Trump’s media availabilities. The AP said it was blocked because it hasn’t changed its stylebook entry for Gulf of Mexico to “Gulf of America.”
Washington Post rolls out new mission statement, keeping ‘Democracy Dies in Darkness’ slogan
The Washington Post is rolling out a new mission statement ahead of President-elect Trump’s second term in the White House.
The Post unveiled “Riveting Storytelling for All of America,” as its new mission statement to catch the essence of its journalism and business, The New York Times first reported Thursday.
'Deeply Alarmed': Why Hundreds of WaPo Staffers Just Sent Bezos a Letter Calling for Meeting
More than 400 Washington Post staffers sent a letter to owner Jeff Bezos, blasting the paper’s direction and urging him to sit down for a meeting.
"We are deeply alarmed by recent leadership decisions that have led readers to question the integrity of this institution, broken with a tradition of transparency, and prompted some of our most distinguished colleagues to leave, with more departures imminent," the letter states.