Has Trump’s ban against the media backfired?
The US president has lost his court battle with CNN, Politico and MS NOW in the latest battle between Donald Trump and the media. What did the judge say and what happens next?
At the end of the last week Donald Trump banned three news outlets - CNN, Politico and MS Now - from reporting inside the White House. But the ban has been overturned - for now - in an emergency hearing by a federal judge, who ordered the banned journalists’ press credentials be immediately reinstated for 14 days.
It’s still not entirely clear what prompted Donald Trump to punish the outlets although it’s been reported that it may have been prompted by negative coverage he was shown by his aide, Natalie Harp.
In this episode, Justin, Anthony and Marianna speak to former CNN correspondent, anchor and bureau chief Frank Sesno, who is now a Journalism professor at The George Washington School of Media and Public Affairs. The latest row comes at a difficult moment for the president who’s fighting historically low approval ratings and an unpopular war in Iran. It’s yet to be seen what the president will do next after the judgement or if it’s a sign of growing pressure ahead of November’s midterm elections.
HOSTS: • Justin Webb, Radio 4 presenter• Anthony Zurcher, North America Correspondent• Marianna Spring, Social Media Investigations Senior Correspondent
GUEST:Frank Sesno, former White House Correspondent, anchor and Washington Bureau Chief for CNN. Director of Strategic Initiatives at the George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs.
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This episode was made by George Dabby with Nik Sindle and Keiligh Baker. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The series producer is Purvee Pattni. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.
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Americast
Insight and analysis on what's happening inside Donald Trump's White House. Americast is the authoritative US news and politics podcast from the BBC. Each week we provide audiences with the best analysis from across the BBC, with on-the-ground observations and big picture insights about the stories which are defining America right now. The podcast is hosted by trusted BBC journalists including the BBC’s North America editor, Sarah Smith, BBC Radio 4 presenter, Justin Webb, the BBC’s social media investigation correspondent, Marianna Spring, and BBC North America correspondent, Anthony Zurcher. As well as political analysis, we also specialise in social media. Each week Marianna Spring brings listeners the latest updates from the BBC’s Undercover Voters, our award-winning investigation into the content that is recommended to US voters on social media. The team is also joined by special guests each week, like CNN anchor, Christiane Amanpour, Emmy Award-winning TV host, Rachel Maddow, and Succession actress, J Smith-Cameron. Podcasts are published every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. As well as being a podcast, we are also available every Friday on BBC Radio 4 and every Saturday on the BBC World Service. Oh, and you can now listen to Americast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say ‘”Ask BBC Sounds to play Americast”. It works on most smart speakers. Every Monday we answer your questions on Americanswers, with some help from our friends, including BBC Radio 5 Live's Matt Chorley. Got a question or a comment? Get in touch with us on email at [email protected] or WhatsApp on +44 330 123 9480.
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