ROY MAYNARD: AP’s Argument Against Being Booted From WH Event Is Laughable Given Its History

An Associated Press(AP) reporter was blocked from an Oval Office event. The White House cited its refusal to use the new designation for the Gulf of America; the AP responded by claiming the White House is engaging in viewpoint discrimination and censorship.

Oh, please. The AP may consider itself the gatekeeper of news in the U.S., but its own history of viewpoint discrimination, bias and selective, often erroneous “fact checking” have disqualified it from deserving a seat in the White House briefing room. There are still honest journalists out there, and they deserve that space far more.

What’s more, the Trump administration should extend its Politico Pro subscription ban to the AP Stylebook Online; a tool the AP and the left use to enforce ideological purity.

Let’s start with the AP’s hissy fit.

“It is alarming that the Trump administration would punish AP for its independent journalism,” AP’s Executive Editor Julie Pace said in a statement. “Limiting our access to the Oval Office based on the content of AP’s speech not only severely impedes the public’s access to independent news, it plainly violates the First Amendment.”

But the AP’s own viewpoint discrimination goes a long way toward disqualifying it as a legitimate news outlet. 

Here’s how the AP covered one recent executive order: “Trump pledged to roll back protections for transgender students. They’re flooding crisis hotlines.”

The main thing Trump had signed at that point was reforms to Title IX, banning boys and men from locker rooms intended for girls and women. No mention of protections for the girls and women who have been forced to change and shower with these biological males.

In fact, the AP has issued a “guidance” for reporters writing about transgender issues, and it’s in lock-step with the activists pushing the most extreme ideologies.

“A person may be declared a boy at birth based on physical observation but may grow up feeling intrinsically like a girl, and later exhibit gender expressions such as preferring clothing or hairstyles typically associated with girls,” the AP explains.

Persons aren’t “declared” a boy or girl at birth; it’s a simple biological observation. But no, biology is out: “Use the term sex (or gender) assigned at birth instead of biological sex, birth gender, was identified at birth as, born a girl and the like.”

Nor is the AP a news outlet that can be trusted to cover its subjects fairly. Just look at its AP Fact Checks.

Here’s one: “Claims about USAID funding are spreading online. Many are not based on facts.” Meaning, of course, that most are based on facts? 

But a survey of the Fact Checks shows they’re just what you expect; strident defenses of the Biden administration and attacks on conservatives—who are always “far-right,” though no one is ever labeled “far left” in the AP world.

“FACT FOCUS: Claims that more than 300,000 migrant children are missing lack context,” reads one.

AP admits, “more than 291,000 unaccompanied migrant children had not, as of May 2024, received a notice to appear in court. Additionally, more than 32,000 unaccompanied migrant children got a notice to appear but then failed to show up for immigration court hearings.” But to call them “missing” is a “stretch.”

The AP is already in trouble; in the last year, major newspaper chains including Gannett and McClatchy have announced they will no longer carry AP content. But its tone-deaf leadership insists that it’s still the most important news outlet in the world.

And through its AP Stylebook, it just may be—for now. The Stylebook was long considered the journalism “Bible.” But it, too, ruthlessly enforces progressive orthodoxy, and it has a surprisingly long reach; it’s one of the first textbooks college journalism students buy.

That’s why the Trump administration should not only continue its ban on The AP from White House briefings; there are better and more honest news outlets who deserve those seats. But it should also give the AP the Politico Pro treatment.

Thousands upon thousands of government workers, the ones who write the press releases and interact with the media, subscribe to the AP Stylebook online. The subscription isn’t that much, only about $30 per year. But the message the administration could send would be invaluable—the AP is no longer the gatekeeper of the U.S. news industry.

Still, there’s a role for an organization like the AP, at least when it functions as an aid to news outlets rather than an enforcer of a particular political viewpoint. The news outlets still dedicated to objective journalism, to fair and balanced reporting, are now starting to work together.The newly formed Associated News Service will not go down the path of taking sides and telling readers what to think.Stay tuned for more on that.

I was a part of the AP for many, many years. And I watched its self-induced decline as it was happening. I take no joy in its downfall, but I’m not surprised, either. And I wonder who will be around to write its obituary. 

Roy Maynard, a 30-year veteran of the news industry, is senior writer for the Texas Public Policy Foundation and executive editor of the Associated News Service.

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.