AP journalists testify over WH ban for refusal to use 'Gulf of America' name
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Mar 28, 2025
Two AP journalists testified that the Trump administration’s ban on its reporters and photographers is an attack on freedom of speech.
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Two Associated Press journalists testified Thursday the Trump administration's ban on its reporters and photographers is an attack on freedom of speech and should be overturned
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White House correspondent Zeke Miller and chief photographer Evan Vucci spoke on the stand before U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, describing how the ban has severely hampered their coverage
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Last month, the AP sued White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt and two other administration officials
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demanding reinstatement after they were banned from the Oval Office and Air Force One over the organization's refusal to use Gulf of America in its style book
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McFadden, who was appointed by President Trump, previously denied a temporary restraining order which would have frozen the ban
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However, he said the ban was likely unconstitutional and suggested the White House change it
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The AP's lawyer argued the White House had instead doubled down since McFadden's decision in fact
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February. Adding, the AP spent 44 days in the penalty box, we hope to remove this unconstitutional
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hurdle to get the AP access to the press poll again. Vucci testified the administration's
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decision to ban the AP negatively impacted its coverage of the meeting between President
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Trump Vice President J Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky saying the organization had to rely on one of its foreign photographers to capture visuals of the event
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Adding, that was one of the wildest things to ever happen in the Oval Office, and we just didn't have it
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Vucci has worked as an AP photographer since 2003, taking several iconic photos, such as an Iraqi journalist throwing his shoes at former President George W. Bush
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and Trump raising his fist following a failed assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania
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Miller says he noticed an apparent softening of tone and tenor in the questions posed to the president
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since the AP has been banned. He pointed to the recent coverage of the Space X mission to retrieve the stranded astronauts
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from the International Space Station. When they landed in the Gulf of Mexico, he said several outlets only referred to it as the Gulf
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McFadden said Miller's example may not be enough to show that the wider media had been impacted by the AP's ban
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and instructed the AP not to file a declaration providing specifics from certain outlets coverage that day
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He explained any more factual filings would further delay his eventual ruling
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For Straight Arrow News, I'm Kara Rucker. For all your latest news headlines, download the Straight Arrow News mobile app today
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