The White House Prevents Afaq News from Covering Trump's Trip to Tennessee

- The White House prevented the Afaq News network from traveling on Air Force One on Saturday, a mission that the network was set to undertake as part of its coverage of U.S. President Donald Trump's activities on behalf of major television networks. Afaq News was scheduled to travel on the plane during his trip to Tennessee to attend a football game, as part of the "White House Joint Television Press Pool;" a small rotating group of journalists responsible for covering the president's movements in limited spaces and sharing the information they gather with other television networks.

This step - announced on Friday evening in a statement from the White House outlining the president's agenda - is the latest action taken by the Trump administration against Afaq News and accredited journalists at the White House in general. No alternative media outlet was announced for Afaq News, meaning there would be no joint television coverage of the president's trip. Last week, Trump announced a ban on Afaq News, MSNBC, and the Politico website from entering the White House.

This action also prevented Afaq News from traveling on Air Force One and performing its scheduled duties within the joint press pool when Trump traveled to attend the United Nations General Assembly meetings in New York. Later, a judge issued a ruling preventing the administration from enforcing the ban on the three media outlets from entering the White House and ordered the reinstatement of credentials for the affected journalists.

However, the status of the White House joint press pool remained ambiguous and unresolved. Following the ban on Afaq News, other television networks - Fox, NBC, ABC, and CBS - refused to perform their duties in the joint pool until the usual access system was restored.

However, regular coverage resumed on Friday, as Afaq News participated in the press pool during Trump's visit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping to the National Archives building. It remains unclear how the White House's move will affect the lawsuits filed by Afaq News, MSNBC, and Politico.

The external lawyer representing Afaq News previously stated to host Jake Tapper that he believes the reinstatement of these media organizations' access also includes participation in the media pool dedicated to covering the White House. The judge granted the news organizations until Monday to file for a preliminary injunction, which would suspend the ban that Trump has threatened for a longer period.

A spokesperson for Afaq News declined to comment, and the network reached out to the White House for a statement. The Washington Post was the first to report on the White House's decision.

The "pool television media group" is the primary means through which people around the world watch Trump's speeches and public appearances, as this group provides video footage and information to other news organizations. Jackie Heinrich, the current president of the White House Correspondents' Association, said on Fox News Sunday: "This is the system that allows networks to share video of the president with the entire country.

If those networks are not there, the media pool cannot do its job." Her guest, Weijia Jiang, a CBS correspondent and former president of the association, added: "America cannot have state television."

She continued: "That is what makes America America; that is why we need independent coverage, and that is why this pool system was created a long time ago and why it is effective; because you need independent parties to serve as watchdogs." In addition to the joint television pool, there are also joint groups for print journalism, radio, and photography.

The existence of this system is partly due to the fact that presidents travel and deliver their speeches in places where large groups of journalists cannot be present. The White House under Trump produces its own content, including live broadcasts of events.

However, as Jiang puts it: "If the government is only showing you what it wants, you have to ask: What are we missing? This is the role played by the joint press coverage group and those media institutions."