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Dennis Donovan

(31,059 posts) Tue Feb 11, 2025, 08:31 PM Feb 2025

US News: White House Correspondents Protest Access Denial Over 'Gulf of Mexico' Naming Issue

US News - White House Correspondents Protest Access Denial Over 'Gulf of Mexico' Naming Issue

By Reuters
Feb. 11, 2025, at 7:43 p.m.

(Reuters) - The White House Correspondents' Association protested a decision by the White House on Tuesday to bar an Associated Press reporter from an event with President Donald Trump over the news agency's decision to continue referring to the Gulf of Mexico.Trump signed an executive order in January directing the Interior Secretary to change the name to the Gulf of America.

"The White House cannot dictate how news organizations report the news, nor should it penalize working journalists because it is unhappy with their editors' decisions," Eugene Daniels, president of the association, said on Tuesday in a statement posted on X. "The move by the administration to bar a reporter from the Associated Press from an official event open to news coverage today is unacceptable," Daniels said.AP Executive Editor Julie Pace said in a statement earlier that its reporter had been blocked from attending an Oval Office event after being informed by the White House it would be barred unless it aligned its editorial standards with Trump's order."It is alarming that the Trump administration would punish AP for its independent journalism," Pace said, adding that limiting access violated the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guaranteeing freedom of the press.

The AP says in its stylebook that the Gulf of Mexico has carried that name for more than 400 years and, as a global news agency, the AP will refer to it by its original name while acknowledging the new name Trump has chosen.

The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the statements by the WHCA and the AP. Mexico's foreign ministry also did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.

/snip

4 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

US News: White House Correspondents Protest Access Denial Over 'Gulf of Mexico' Naming Issue (Original Post) Dennis Donovan Feb 2025 OP

CBS News - The AP says Trump blocking its reporter from Oval Office over not using Gulf of America "violates 1A" Dennis Donovan Feb 2025 #1

People joke about this Johnny2X2X Feb 2025 #2

They should refuse to cover the malaise Feb 2025 #3

MaddowBlog-The White House's interest in 'Gulf of America' reaches ridiculous new level LetMyPeopleVote Feb 2025 #4

Dennis Donovan

(31,059 posts)

1. CBS News - The AP says Trump blocking its reporter from Oval Office over not using Gulf of America "violates 1A"

Reply to Dennis Donovan (Original post)

Wed Feb 12, 2025, 08:26 AM

Feb 2025

CBS News - The AP says Trump blocking its reporter from Oval Office over not using Gulf of America "violates the First Amendment"

By Kiki Intarasuwan

Updated on: February 11, 2025 / 8:12 PM EST / CBS News

The Associated Press pushed back against the Trump administration on Tuesday after one of its reporters was blocked from an event over the news organization's guidance on its continued use of the "Gulf of Mexico" in its coverage, calling the move a violation of the First Amendment.

The White House demanded early Tuesday that the AP alter its style guidance to use the name Gulf of America versus using the Gulf of Mexico, AP executive editor Julie Pace said in a statement. President Trump renamed the body of water to the Gulf of America through an executive order last month. Later on Tuesday, Pace said the White House stopped an AP reporter from attending Mr. Trump's executive order signing in the Oval Office.

"It is alarming that the Trump administration would punish AP for its independent journalism. Limiting our access to the Oval Office based on the content of AP's speech not only severely impedes the public's access to independent news, it plainly violates the First Amendment," Pace said.

The AP's style guide, which many newsrooms across the country follow, published on Jan. 23, two days after the president signed his executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico, states that Mr. Trump's order only carries authority within the United States and other countries do not have to recognize the change.

"As a global news agency that disseminates news around the world, the AP must ensure that place names and geography are easily recognizable to all audiences," the guidance reads.

/snip

Johnny2X2X

(23,693 posts)

2. People joke about this

Reply to Dennis Donovan (Original post)

Wed Feb 12, 2025, 08:36 AM

Feb 2025

But it's not a joke, it's a control mechanism, Trump is exercising his power to make the media bow down to him, if they don't they face consequences.

malaise

(292,917 posts)

3. They should refuse to cover the

Reply to Dennis Donovan (Original post)

Wed Feb 12, 2025, 08:51 AM

Feb 2025

KKKK

LetMyPeopleVote

(175,026 posts)

4. MaddowBlog-The White House's interest in 'Gulf of America' reaches ridiculous new level

Reply to Dennis Donovan (Original post)

Wed Feb 12, 2025, 08:40 PM

Feb 2025

The White House apparently wants The Associated Press to use the Trump-approved name for the Gulf of Mexico. If it sounds Orwellian, that's because it is.

The White House's interest in 'Gulf of America' reaches ridiculous new level www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...
— News Hub - A Home for Better News (@thenewshub.bsky.social) 2025-02-12T19:05:46.958Z

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/associated-press-says-white-house-barred-reporter-gulf-america-policy-rcna191823

After the president was sworn in — he included a “Gulf of America” reference in his inaugural remarks — his administration started leaning into the bizarre rhetorical campaign, forcing agencies to use the Trump-approved phrase.

But it now appears the broader effort is extending beyond just governmental departments. NBC News reported:

The Associated Press said the White House violated the First Amendment today when it barred an AP reporter from entering an executive order signing. The AP said the White House restricted the reporter’s access after the news organization did not update its editorial standards renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America.”

In other words, one of the nation’s largest news organizations was told that it was effectively being punished for calling the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of Mexico. If The Associated Press’ concerns are correct, the White House had some kind of trade in mind: If the AP wants access, it should use the phrase the president likes.....

The day after the alleged Oval Office incident involving an AP journalist, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt faced additional questions about what transpired. It did not go well.

https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:4llrhdclvdlmmynkwsmg5tdc/post/3lhytrfr3l62p

Link to tweet

While the controversy surrounding The Associated Press is important in its own right, there’s also a larger concern about the White House and its approach to language. As The New York Times summarized:

Of all the changes underway in Washington, one of the deepest has to do with the very language that is spoken here. In order to remake the government, President Trump and his administration are remaking the language used to describe the government. An entire lexicon of progressive terminology nurtured by the last administration has been squelched. In its place is a new vocabulary, honed by the president and echoed by his many imitators in the capital. It is a vocabulary containing many curious uses of doublespeak.

We’re no longer just talking about a twisted form of conservative political correctness, with Republicans calling the estate tax the “death tax,” while labeling big corporations “job creators.” Those phrases are part of a partisan game that’s silly, but largely inconsequential.....

If all of this sounds rather Orwellian, that's because it is

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