The US Department of Justice is conducting an investigation into the five largest television networks — ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC and Fox News. The trigger was their decision to temporarily suspend joint coverage of events at the White House.
The review concerns a possible violation of antitrust law. According to sources, the department contacted the networks on Friday and requested correspondence and materials related to the operation of the television pool.
The pool is a long-standing system under which television networks take turns providing coverage of the president and share footage with other media outlets. In September, the networks abandoned this practice for several days after the Trump administration revoked the credentials of CNN journalists, as well as those of MS Now and Politico.
As a result, some important events, including the president's meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, went without broadcast on the major networks. Later, a court temporarily restored access for the sidelined outlets, and the pool resumed operation.
A Justice Department spokesperson, Emily Covington, said that "members of the television pool proudly boycotted coverage of events at the White House." She recalled that group boycotts between commercial competitors can violate the Sherman Act — a key antitrust statute.
The investigation has become the latest episode in the tense relationship between the Trump administration and the press. The White House has previously called access to the president a privilege rather than a right, and three outlets filed a lawsuit accusing the authorities of violating the First Amendment.
The networks are so far refraining from comment or say they have not received official notifications. The investigation itself is only beginning, and its outcome is still unclear. But is an antitrust proceeding worth calling into question the customary coordination of the media?
