The move to block the CNN, the BBC, and The New York Times among other organisations from attending an off-camera White House press briefing that other reporters were hand-picked to attend, has raised alarms among media outlets and First Amendment watchdogs. The decision struck veteran White House journalists as unprecedented in the modern era and escalated tensions in the already fraught relationship between the Trump administration and the press. The Los Angeles Times, Politico, Buzz Feed, and the Guardian were also among those excluded from the meeting, which was held in White House press secretary Sean Spicer’s office. The meeting, which is known as a gaggle, took place in lieu of the daily televised Q-and-A session in the White House briefing room. The White House press office had informed reporters earlier that the traditional, on-camera press briefing would be replaced by a gaggle in Spicer’s office. When reporters from these news organisations tried to enter Spicer’s office for the gaggle, they were told they could not attend because they were not on the list of attendees. In a brief statement defending the move, administration spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said the White House “had the pool there so everyone would be represented and get an update from us today.” The White House press pool usually includes representatives from one television outlet, one radio outlet and one print outlet, as well as reporters from a few wire services. In this case, four of the five major television networks — NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox News — were invited and attended the meeting, while only CNN was blocked. And while The New York Times was kept out, conservative media organisations Breitbart News, The Washington Times and One America News Network were also allowed in. Reporters from The Associated Press, Time magazine and USA Today decided in the moment to boycott the briefing because of how it was handled. The White House Correspondents Association has also protested the move. “The WHCA board is protesting strongly against how the White House is handling today’s gaggle,” it said in a statement. “We encourage the organisations that were allowed in to share the material with others in the press corps who were not. The board will be discussing this further with White House staff.” Several news outlets criticised the decision of Trump administration to ban certain media organisations who they felt were ‘unfriendly’ towards the President. No such bizarre incidents have been witnessed in the modern history of the US relating to the cherry-picking of news outlets. Trump’s attitude, especially towards the CNN and the New York Times, has remained extremely condescending since his campaign days. While the White House may have clarified in its version that the said organisations were not banned, it certainly has set a precedent and could prove detrimental to the freedom of speech and the First Amendment to the United State Constitution. President Trump has been targeting certain news outlets in particular and the media in general as his enemy and has not refrained from pointing fingers till now. *