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** OPINION
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** White House continues its absurd ban against The Associated Press
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President Donald Trump walks down the stairs from Air Force One on Sunday on his way to the Daytona 500. (Pool via AP)

The White House’s ban of The Associated Press drags on and shows no signs of letting up.

The Associated Press continues to rightfully call it the “Gulf of Mexico” and Donald Trump’s administration continues to wrongfully ban the AP for not calling it the “Gulf of America.”

This is where we are, folks.

The latest over the weekend is that two AP journalists were banned from boarding Air Force One to travel and cover Trump’s various trips.

Again, this would be a good place to remind everyone that the AP represents millions upon millions of Americans by reporting on the latest news involving the president of the United States.

The Associated Press’ David Bauder writes ([link removed]) , “Journalists consider the administration’s move a violation of the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment — a governmental attempt to dictate what a news company publishes under threat of retribution. The Trump administration says the AP has no special right of access to events where space is limited, particularly given the news service’s ‘commitment to misinformation.’”

Commitment to misinformation? What a ridiculous description from the administration of what is going on, and a total misunderstanding of what the word “misinformation” means. The AP calling it the Gulf of Mexico is not meant to deceive its audience, but simply to call the body of water what it has been called for more than 400 years — well before the U.S. was even a country — and what the rest of the world recognizes as its name.

That line about “commitment to misinformation” came from Taylor Budowich, the White House Deputy Chief of Staff, who posted on X ([link removed]) :

“The Associated Press continues to ignore the lawful geographic name change of the Gulf of America. This decision is not just divisive, but it also exposes the Associated Press' commitment to misinformation. While their right to irresponsible and dishonest reporting is protected by the First Amendment, it does not ensure their privilege of unfettered access to limited spaces, like the Oval Office and Air Force One. Going forward, that space will now be opened up to the many thousands of reporters who have been barred from covering these intimate areas of the administration. Associated Press journalists and photographers will retain their credentials to the White House complex.”

It’s also absurd to suggest that any other reporters who had previously been “barred from covering these intimate areas” have anywhere near the reach of the AP, which is used by thousands of media outlets.

In a statement, the AP said, “Freedom of speech is a pillar of American democracy and a core value of the American people. The White House has said it supports these principles. The actions taken to restrict AP’s coverage of presidential events because of how we refer to a geographic location chip away at this important right enshrined in the U.S. Constitution for all Americans.”

Meanwhile, Mediaite’s Kipp Jones notes ([link removed]) that New York Times columnist David Brooks went on PBS and talked out of both sides of his mouth, saying he was both “appalled” by what Trump was doing to the AP, but that he understood it, too.

Brooks told the “PBS NewsHour” last Friday, “If they don’t want to talk to the AP, fine. The AP can do its own reporting. And so I’ve lived through all these administrations. And I think the deeper problem here, and this is our business. I hate to comment on the media because I’ve spent my life in it. But we have not represented enough Trump voices over the last 40 years — enough working-class voices over the last 40 years. And so if we had done that, maybe some of the hostility that’s come our way wouldn’t be there. And so I am appalled by what Trump is doing. But I understand sort of why he’s doing it.”

The issue here is trying to assign reasonable and rational thinking to a president who is rarely reasonable and rational when it comes to the media. Take it a step further, it’s making an excuse for something that’s inexcusable. Trump isn’t banning the AP because of hostility from working-class voices over the past 40 years. Trump is banning them because he made a goofy order to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico and the AP said, “No, that’s not what it’s called.” Then Trump got bent out of shape and is throwing a temper tantrum that you would think is below the leader of the free world.


** Fighting for attention
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The National Hockey League is currently on a two-week break so many of its best players can participate in something called the “4 Nations Face-Off.” It’s a round-robin tournament featuring players representing the United States, Canada, Sweden and Finland.

On Saturday night, the heated rivals from the U.S and Canada faced off in Montreal and within seconds, literally, the game went viral. There were three fights within the first nine seconds of the game. Social media went crazy.

Noted NBA fan and podcaster Bill Simmons even seemingly abandoned the NBA All-Star Skills Competition for hockey, tweeting, “You had me at “3 fights in 9 seconds” ([link removed])

Simmons later tweeted ([link removed]) , “Incredible period of hockey. WOW. Poor NBA All Star Saturday is getting annihilated.”

That was the general theme on social media — the comparison between the feisty NHL game and the laid-back NBA skills. Whiletwo NBA players were disqualified ([link removed]) for trying to cheat at the skills competition by not even really trying, NHL players were passionately throwing fists — in what amounted to an exhibition game.

Anyway, the night paid off for the NHL. The game drew a rather respectable average of 4.4 million viewers on ABC. It was the most-watched non-Stanley Cup Final telecast since 2019. The U.S. won, 3-1 to advance to Thursday’s final. Their opponent will be determined after today’s play, but you know the entire hockey world (except for Sweden and Finland) is hoping it's a U.S.-Canada rematch.


** The sports of “SNL”
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Original “Saturday Night Live” cast member Laraine Newman attends “SNL50: The Anniversary Special” at Rockefeller Plaza on Sunday in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

“Saturday Night Live” aired its 50th anniversary special on Sunday night. To commemorate the big event, news outlets have been running “SNL” lists for the past several weeks. Here’s another fun one: The Washington Post’s Matt Bonesteel with “The best ‘SNL’ sports sketches over its 50-year history.” ([link removed])

The list does not include skits simply featuring sports stars who appeared on the show as host, but skits where sports were the main focus. It’s a good list, but there quite a few missing that I would have included, including original cast member Garrett Morris playing fictional baseball star Chico Escuela and, in what might have been the best sports sketch ever and one “SNL’s” most underrated skits ever: Wayne Gretzky in something called “Waikiki Hockey.” ([link removed]) It’s a parody of all those old Elvis movies and it ends with Gretzky lip synching and dancing to a surf song.

Speaking of “SNL,” there was not a new show on Saturday night because of the 50th anniversary on Sunday, so NBC aired a rerun. But it smartly ran the very first episode of “SNL” from Oct. 11, 1975. Comedian George Carlin served as host, but his duties were merely several standup spots. The show had two musical guests: Billy Preston and Janis Ian. It had a film by Albert Brooks, stand-up bits from Andy Kaufman and Valri Bromfield, a skit featuring Jim Henson’s Muppets and the sketches from the original cast, including the original “Weekend Update” with Chevy Chase.

I’ll have more reaction to the 50th anniversary special later this week in the newsletter.


** Changing the rules
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On Saturday, Sam Khan, Jr., who covers sports in Texas for The Athletic, posted on X ([link removed]) something unusual he found on the Texas A&M website about media coverage of the school’s baseball team. He noticed that it said on the school site that Texas A&M baseball players would not be available for comment after losses.

His post had more than 400,000 views and drew immediate attention from those who rightfully pointed out how ridiculous it was for Texas A&M to make players available only after the team won.

College programs often have restrictions on player interviews. Some schools, for example, only make certain players available to the media. Others don’t make freshmen available. But a policy of keeping players from talking after losses? It’s unheard of.

And it’s no longer the case at Texas A&M. Apparently enough dust was kicked up that the line about players not being available after losses is no longer in the official policy.

Khan tweeted on Sunday ([link removed]) , “Pleased to see the ‘no player interviews after losses’ policy adjusted. Thanks to Texas A&M officials for reconsidering it. I’m hopeful that I can have some productive conversations with folks at A&M about media access and how we can continue to work together.”


** Media tidbits
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* CBS News’ Emily Mae Czachor with “YouTube TV, Paramount reach deal to keep channels on streaming platform after contract dispute.” ([link removed])
* The Wall Street Journal’s Joshua Chaffin and Meridith McGraw profiled White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt in “The 27-Year-Old Press Secretary Who ‘Speaks Trump Fluently.’” ([link removed]) In a quote that stands out in the story from Joe Lockhart, a press secretary under President Bill Clinton: “If you were to grade her on the conventional wisdom of the job she gets an F. If you would grade her on the current criteria, pleasing Donald Trump, she gets an A-plus. They’re always only speaking to their own people. They do not care about the rest of us, because they don’t need those people to keep Republicans in charge.”
* The Los Angeles Times’ Queenie Wong and Wendy Lee with “Google and Meta used to champion DEI efforts. Why Big Tech is pulling back.” ([link removed])


** Hot type
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* ESPN’s Anthony Olivieri with “Jonathan Martin finding his way a decade after NFL retirement.” ([link removed])
* “CBS News Sunday Morning” and correspondent Tracy Smith profiles the Oscar-nominated actor in “Edward Norton on becoming Pete Seeger in ‘A Complete Unknown.” ([link removed])
* And here’s Smith’s extended interview with Norton ([link removed]) .


** More resources for journalists
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* Elevate your editing expertise with the Poynter ACES Advanced Certificate. Enroll now ([link removed]) .
* Gain a deeper understanding of Polarization in America and Christian Nationalism. Enroll now ([link removed]) .
* Last week, Poynter hosted an insightful discussion panel, “Defending the facts: How do journalists counter attacks on factual reporting? ([link removed]) ” Watch the full session recording here ([link removed]) and explore our fact-checking course ([link removed]) to learn more.

Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) .
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