DOJ looks into antitrust charges for 5 major TV networks

The Justice Department is investigating whether ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News, and NBC broke federal antitrust law when they refused to participate in shared television coverage of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit and other White House events after the administration barred CNN from its pool role, a department spokesperson said Oct. 10.

“Members of the television press pool have boycotted covering White House events,” spokesperson Emily Covington said in a statement to CBS News. “Group boycotts among commercial competitors can violate the Sherman Act. The Antitrust Division is simply investigating to determine whether these news organizations have violated the antitrust laws.”

Section 1 of the Sherman Act makes it illegal to engage in contracts, trusts or agreements, or conspiracies that restrain “trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations.” Violating the act is a felony, according to the statute, and the maximum penalties are a fine of $100 million for a corporation, $1 million for any other person, imprisonment of up to 10 years, or both a fine and prison. 

The statement does not say whether the inquiry is civil or criminal, and CBS reported it was unclear how the department defines the networks’ move as a violation. The New York Times first reported the probe.

Breitbart reported that officials told the networks to hand over internal communications and documents. The CBS and Reuters reports did not mention a request for records.

The dispute began Sept. 18, when President Donald Trump announced he was barring CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House. Reuters reported the White House said covering the President was a “privilege — not a right.” CBS added that the White House sent each outlet a letter saying certain articles, including on the White House ballroom, the Iran war, and the Republican midterm convention, were national security threats and violated standards of “professionalism and decorum.”

CNN was scheduled to serve as the television pool, the single crew that shares footage of presidential events with other outlets, on Sept. 21, but the administration barred it from doing so. 

Bryan Boughton, Fox News’s Washington bureau chief and the pool chair, told pool members, “There will be no replacement pool put in place.” 

The other networks declined to send a replacement crew, and as a result there was no pool footage of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Washington.

In a joint statement Sept. 21, the five networks said, “The public has a vital interest in receiving accurate, independent information about its government. No administration should restrict a news organization because it objects to its reporting.” 

The statement does not mention a suspension of coverage. TheWrap reported the pool returned to full coverage Sept. 25.

CNN, MS NOW, and Politico sued in federal court in Washington on First and Fifth Amendment grounds. U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly issued a temporary restraining order, and their credentials were reinstated, CBS reported. The White House still refuses to let CNN and Politico into the Oval Office or aboard Air Force One, and Kelly extended the expiration of the order while he considers the case.