What can CNN do to stop President Trump’s abuse?

[Commentary] CNN is sui generis as a target of President Donald Trump’s onslaught against the press. It’s a serially abusive situation.

Bruce Brown, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (RCFP), says that outlets working under possibly discriminatory access constraints face a tough choice. “The news organization may decide it’s better for us to just come back the next day and go back at it,” says Brown. “If they’ve looked back and realize they have five or six incidents, where content is being used to guide press office actions, then at some point the news organization may decide we’ve had enough here” and file an action against the gatekeepers. In the case of CNN and the White House, the suit would likely be what’s known as a Bivens action, so named for a plaintiff who alleged that people acting on behalf of the federal government deprived him of his constitutional rights. In CNN’s case, the action would relate to First Amendment rights. A goal of such a suit would be to secure an injunction essentially ordering the government to allow access to press events, says Brown.

[Erik Wemple is the Washington Post's media critic].