The US Department of Justice is examining whether five news organisations breached antitrust law when they jointly suspended coverage of events involving Donald Trump in protest.
This is reported by DW.
The investigation concerns the broadcasters ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC and Fox News.
Department of Justice spokesperson Emily Covington said that coordinated boycotts by competing companies could violate US law.
“The Antitrust Division is conducting an investigation to determine whether these news organisations violated antitrust law,” she noted.
The Trump administration’s decision to launch the investigation was criticised by Jose Zamora, the Committee to Protect Journalists’ regional director for the Americas.
“The government should not use antitrust investigations to intimidate news organisations that are defending press access to information. The public’s right to know the truth depends on that access,” Zamora wrote on social media.
- Earlier, the US broadcaster CNN reported that its journalists were not allowed to board the presidential aircraft (Air Force One) for a planned trip with President Donald Trump.