My latest column for the South Carolina Press Association:
It
already seems like a long time ago, but it’s only been a month since
the Trump administration’s long-simmering clash with CNN reached a new
level, with the cancelation of reporter Jim Acosta’s “hard pass” that gave him access to the White House. The pass was restored temporarily on the orders of a federal judge when CNN sued over the action, and then permanently when the White House press office deescalated the confrontation.
But
it’s important to not let this incident go without examining the legal
issues involved, since there’s the possibility that it may happen again,
either at the White House or in county offices and city halls: perhaps
even in the ones you cover, with reporters—perhaps you—being stopped
from doing your job.
