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Six citizens sue Trump over White House restrictions on news outlets’ press access

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Coverage spectrum

Covered by 5 outlets, mostly left-leaning (60%).

5 articles in total. The spectrum counts each outlet once and leaves opinion out. How we measure bias

Man seated at Oval Office desk surrounded by standing officials and photographers with cameras.
Image via The New RepublicHow images are chosenReport this image

Six citizens filed a lawsuit on Monday against President Donald Trump, communications director Steven Cheung and chief of staff Susie Wiles over the White House’s restrictions on news outlets’ press access. The complaint argues the policy deprives the public of reporting from the affected outlets, which The New Republic names as CNN, Politico and MS NOW. The suit was filed by Columbia University’s Knight First Amendment Institute and Yale Law School’s Freedom & Information Access Clinic. The lawsuit says the policy violates the First Amendment and asks the courts to declare it unconstitutional because it restricts a limited public forum. Coverage from the Associated Press, The Hill and The New Republic describes the filing.

Headline and summary written by Mantle’s AI from the coverage below, under published rules. How this works

What happened

Key points

Each point shows who reports it, from Far Left to Far Right.

  1. Six citizens filed a lawsuit on Monday against Trump and administration officials over White House restrictions on news outlets’ press access.

    Reported byFar Left1Left2Center1Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Far Left
    The New Republic
    Left
    ABC News, The Independent
    Center
    The Hill
    Right
    The Washington Times

  2. The complaint names Trump, communications director Steven Cheung and chief of staff Susie Wiles as defendants.

    One outletThe Hill· Center

  3. The lawsuit says the policy bars CNN, Politico and MS NOW from the White House press pool.

    One outletThe New Republic· Far Left

  4. The suit was filed by Columbia University’s Knight First Amendment Institute and Yale Law School’s Freedom & Information Access Clinic.

    One outletThe New Republic· Far Left

  5. The lawsuit argues the policy violates the First Amendment and deprives the public of independent reporting.

    Reported byFar Left1Center1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Far Left
    The New Republic
    Center
    The Hill

How each side tells it

Compare views

All three sides report that six citizens sued Trump over White House restrictions on news outlets’ press access. The left stresses the banned outlets and First Amendment claims, the center the named defendants, and the right citizens as audience stakeholders.

  • the left

    3 outlets

    Left-side headlines describe a White House media ban and the lawsuit against Trump; The Independent adds three top aides, and The New Republic’s text names the banned outlets.

    Six Citizens Sue Trump Over White House Media Ban
    The New RepublicFar LeftAll left-leaning headlines

  • the center

    1 outlet

    The Hill’s headline states the suit as plain news: six citizens sue Trump over White House bans on news outlets, with the complaint’s named defendants in the text.

    Six citizens sue Trump over White House bans on news outlets
    The HillCenterAll center headlines

  • the right

    1 outlet

    The only right-side coverage is a Washington Times headline on an AP report, framing the suit around citizens as audience stakeholders who lose news.

    6 citizens sue Trump, saying media ban deprives them of news as audience stakeholders
    The Washington TimesRightAll right-leaning headlines

The words they chose

Language to notice

Words that carry a judgement beyond the facts. Tap a highlighted word anywhere on the page to see why.

  • Left0

    No loaded words in its own voice.

  • Center0

    No loaded words in its own voice.

  • Right1

    increasingly bitter

In the outlets’ own words

  • Sensational language

    increasingly bitterMore neutral: ongoing legal dispute

    The adjective adds drama to the description of the dispute without adding a checkable fact.

    In the increasingly bitter legal standoff between President Donald Trump and media outlets whose reporting…

    Used byThe Washington Times (Right)

See the full language guide

See for yourself

Side by side

What each side leads with and what it leaves out. Open a side to read its headlines.

From the left

3 outlets

Leads with

  • banned outlets CNN, Politico and MS NOW
  • First Amendment claims
  • backing from the Knight Institute and Yale clinic
See the 3 headlines from the leftHide the headlines

From the center

1 outlet

Leads with

  • named defendants Cheung and Wiles
  • public’s right to independent reporting
  • the 26-page filing
See the headline from the centerHide the headlines
  • The HillCenter

    Six citizens sue Trump over White House bans on news outlets

    Six citizens sued President Trump and administration officials over bans from the White House against news outlets in a lawsuit filed Monday. The complaint – which named Trump alongside White House communications director Steven Cheung and chief of staff Susie Wiles – argued new …

    Read at The Hill (opens in a new tab)

From the right

1 outlet

Leads with

  • citizens as audience stakeholders
  • media ban deprives citizens of news
  • bitter standoff with news outlets
See the headline from the rightHide the headlines
  • The Washington TimesRightAssociated Press report

    6 citizens sue Trump, saying media ban deprives them of news as audience stakeholders

    In the Sensational language“increasingly bitter”The adjective adds drama to the description of the dispute without adding a checkable fact.More neutral: ongoing legal disputeDisagree with this highlight? legal standoff between President Donald Trump and media outlets whose reporting he dislikes, a new and crucial third party has emerged: citizens who watch and read the news and need it to do their jobs.

    Read at The Washington Times (opens in a new tab)

    Also published by ABC News and The Independent. It counts once.

Articles you open from here build My Mix, a private picture of how your reading spreads across the spectrum, kept on this device. What is My Mix?

The left is Far Left and Left together. The right is Right and Far Right together. Every outlet keeps its own five-point rating.

Who reported it when

How the coverage built up

  • Left

    42 min later

    Its first report, Oct 26, 11:30 AM EDT

  • Center

    3 hr 6 min later

    Its first report, Oct 26, 1:55 PM EDT

  • Right

    First to report

    The Washington Times, Oct 26, 10:49 AM EDT

See the order the outlets reported inHide the order
  1. The Washington TimesRightOct 26, 10:49 AM EDT
  2. ABC NewsLeftOct 26, 11:30 AM EDT
  3. The IndependentLeftOct 26, 11:48 AM EDT
  4. The New RepublicFar LeftOct 26, 11:59 AM EDT
  5. The HillCenterOct 26, 1:55 PM EDT

Times are the ones the outlets published in their own feeds, in Eastern time. Opinion is left out.

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