THIS IS HUGE: The New York Times just refused to publish any White House photos taken today, standing in direct solidarity with the outlets Trump banned.
NYTimes Communications released a statement making the paper’s position unmistakably clear.
“The New York Times will not publish or distribute any images taken as part of the White House still photography pool today, in conjunction with other members of that pool and in a show of support for the news organizations being unfairly targeted by the president’s barring of journalists from the White House,” the statement read.
Read that again.
The Times has access it could use right now. Instead, it’s choosing to sit that access out entirely, in solidarity with CNN, MS NOW, and Politico.
Spokesperson Charlie Stadtlander was direct about why.
“We remain committed to covering the president’s travel to New York City today,” Stadtlander said. “Americans deserve a free and independent media covering their government without intimidation, as well as comprehensive coverage of newsworthy events.”
This adds The Times to a growing list of major outlets refusing to simply carry on business as usual while three news organizations get shut out. Just today, the entire TV press pool, including Fox News, walked out over the same ban, leaving Trump’s own White House event without a single working microphone.
Now it’s the country’s paper of record doing the same with photography.
This is what real solidarity in journalism looks like. Not staying quiet to preserve access, but sacrificing that access to stand with colleagues who lost theirs.