The Ohio University E.W. Scripps School of Journalism is condemning the Trump administration's move to bar the Associated Press from covering the presidency from the Oval Office or Air Force One.
The journalism school issued a statement on Thursday signed by dozens of current students, alumni and professors of the school. The AP was barred from covering the president in these locations after the international news outlet issued guidance in its stylebook to reporters to keep calling the Gulf of Mexico by its name, instead of what Trump tried to change the body of water's name to.
Trump issued an executive order changing the gulf's name to the "Gulf of America" in the nation's U.S. Geographic Names Information System. After the AP stylebook guidance came out, the AP was no longer allowed to cover the Trump administration.
The AP announced Friday it is suing the Trump Administration over the ban.
The statement from the Scripps community said:
"Banning the nonprofit, nonpartisan, and unbiased Associated Press from the White House press corps, especially for something so petty as a style guideline, is a serious violation of the First Amendment and an irrational, petulant act heretofore seen only among the world’s worst dictators. We urge President Trump to respect the Constitution of the United States he swore to uphold and reinstate the Associated Press as a full member of the White House press corps," the statement said.
The Scripps School's director Eddith Dashiell told WOSU that Trump not allowing the AP on Air Force One and in the Oval Office is blatant censorship and a violation of the First Amendment.
"Trying to silence the AP, because it will not abide by this fantasy that you can change the name of a body of water, it's a testament to the integrity and the independence of the media. AP represents the independence of the media," Dashiell said. "And we need to support the AP in that endeavor, because if the AP loses, all of us are going to lose."
The New York Times reported multiple news outlets with the White House Correspondents' Association, including Fox News, CNN and the Washington Post have urged Trump to drop the ban on the AP. Even conservative TV channel Newsmax agreed, saying in a statement it fears a future administration may not like something Newsmax writes and might seek to ban them.
AP's Stylebook is the bedrock of what students at OU's Scripps school and other universities learn. The reporting from AP journalists is also used by news outlets across the U.S. and around the world.
Nicole Kraft is a journalism professor at Ohio State University and a freelance sports reporter in Columbus for the AP. Kraft also condemned Trump's actions.
"The idea that the executive branch of the government would say that a well respected and universally acknowledged media enterprise doesn't have access to it, because it doesn't agree with the position the AP has taken...is patently unconstitutional," Kraft said.
Kraft said OSU has more than 100 students in its journalism program and thousands of alumni, including Bloomberg's White House correspondent. Dashiell said OU currently has 650 journalism students and also has countless alumni working in the field.
Kraft said OSU's journalism program will not change its message to its students and they will "absolutely 1,000%" continue using the AP Stylebook.
"I think the message that we're conveying is that a free press has never been more important. It's when you face challenges like this that we need to stand up straighter and we need to be even more stringent in our belief that the free press is going to be a key piece of sustaining democracy," Kraft said.
Dashiell agreed and said OU will continue to use the AP Stylebook.
Dashiell said if Trump is willing to take action against the AP like this, she is questioning what else the White House is willing to do to silence a free press.
"The First Amendment is only 45 words on a piece of faded parchment. That's all it is. And it has no power unless we are willing to support it. And that means supporting everyone's freedom of speech, even those we disagree with," Dashiell said.
