Fox Has CNN's Back in White House Suit

Fox is backing CNN in its lawsuit against President Donald Trump, press secretary Sarah Sanders and others, and will do so in writing, as it were.

Fox News president Jay Wallace made that support crystal clear in a statement Wednesday (Nov. 14): “FOX News supports CNN in its legal effort to regain its White House reporter’s press credential. We intend to file an amicus brief with the U.S. District Court."

That is a friend of the court brief, or in this case friend of the CNN argument to the court that the pass of senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta should not have been pulled after his dust-up with the President during a press conference and should be restored.

Related: Trump Re-Election Campaign Uses CNN Suit to Rally Base

"Secret Service passes for working White House journalists should never be weaponized," Fox continued. "While we don’t condone the growing antagonistic tone by both the President and the press at recent media avails, we do support a free press, access and open exchanges for the American people.”

Related: Trump Campaign Uses CNN Suit to Rally Base

The News Media Alliance, which represents print and digital journalists, also came out strongly for CNN.

"The News Media Alliance stands in full support of CNN’s defense of its First Amendment rights," said that group. "We need quality journalism – now more than ever – from respected news organizations employing professional journalists who will hold those in positions of power accountable. We commend CNN for not allowing the Trump administration to intimidate them by threatening the very rights on which our nation was founded, and which ensure the preservation of a strong democratic society."

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.