Access Restored

Access to White House grounds for recently banned media outlets has been temporarily restored by a federal judge who ruled the outlets were likely to prevail in their litigation claiming violations of the First Amendment. The outlets include CNN, MS Now, and Politico, and the restored access is to last 14 days while the litigation runs its course and produces a longer-lasting decision. CNN is part of the revolving White House press pool, and the other members of the pool (ABC, CBS, Fox News, and NBC) had boycotted coverage of the White House and president until the credentials were restored. 

Analysis and eternal perspective: This legal development is unsurprising, as the First Amendment is clear that freedom of the press may not be infringed upon based on the content of reporting. While the White House eventually asserted a national security concern as the basis for the ban, President Donald Trump initially posted on social media that it was because the outlets are “fake news.” The White House has complied with the judge’s order to temporarily reinstate the credentials, and the outlets continue to pursue a permanent legal remedy.

Last week, we observed that Jesus followers enjoy both an eternal reality (we can stand on the stable foundation of a single unchanging God and source of Truth – Jam. 1:17; Mal. 3:6) and the blessing of access to numerous earthly viewpoints from which to ascertain and distinguish between fact and narrative. This latter blessing is derived from an environment that by its very nature includes inaccuracies. The alternative would be single-source reporting, which guarantees the shrouding of fact. So even in the temporal sense, we should rejoice in the abundance of information.

Finally, it is a reminder we repeat together often: Most of us are over-informed and under-activated. You and I rarely need more information but are constantly called to be the hands and feet of Jesus. What command or invitation of Jesus is it that you are fully informed to put into motion today?