The Associated Press said it was blocked from covering President Donald Trump’s executive order signing Tuesday because it declined to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America in its editorial style standards. Julie Pace, executive editor of the news agency, said in a statement, “Today we were informed by […]The Associated Press said it was blocked from covering President Donald Trump’s executive order signing Tuesday because it declined to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America in its editorial style standards. Julie Pace, executive editor of the news agency, said in a statement, “Today we were informed by
The Associated Press said it was blocked from covering President Donald Trump‘s executive order signing Tuesday because it declined to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America in its editorial style standards.
Julie Pace, executive editor of the news agency, said in a statement, “Today we were informed by the White House that if AP did not align its editorial standards with President Donald Trump’s executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, AP would be barred from accessing an event in the Oval Office. This afternoon AP’s reporter was blocked from attending an executive order signing.”
She added, “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.”
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Trump signed executive orders in an Oval Office appearance this afternoon, in which he was joined by Elon Musk, leading his efforts to slash the size of government.
After Trump signed an executive order last month to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, the AP announced that its stylebook, widely used throughout the news business, would stick with the old name but still acknowledge the one that Trump has chosen.
“Trump’s order only carries authority within the United States. Mexico, as well as other countries and international bodies, do not have to recognize the name change,” wrote Amanda Bennett, the AP’s vice president of standards and inclusion.
The AP did say that it would change the name of Alaska’s Denali, the tallest mountain in North America, to Mount McKinley. That was another part of Trump’s executive order.
A White House spokesperson did not return a request for comment.
Eugene Daniels, president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, said in a statement, “In the relationship between the press and the Office of the President, coverage and standards are entirely in the purview of individual organizations.
“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. The move by the administration to bar a reporter from The Associated Press from an official event open to news coverage today is unacceptable. The WHCA stands with The Associated Press and calls on the administration to immediately change course.”
Aaron Terr, director of advocacy for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, said in a statement, “Punishing journalists for not adopting state-mandated terminology is an alarming attack on press freedom. That’s viewpoint discrimination, and it’s unconstitutional. President Trump has the authority to change how the U.S. government refers to the Gulf. But he cannot punish a news organization for using another term. The role of our free press is to hold those in power accountable, not to act as their mouthpiece. Any government efforts to erode this fundamental freedom deserve condemnation.”