Hundreds of former ABC News reporters, producers and executives are urging their former employer to take a hard stand against the White House’s treatment of the press, the Associated Press reported on Wednesday.
The letter began circulating after White House press secretary Sean Spicer barred several news organizations from attending a briefing in his office last week. Among those blocked from the meeting were The Hill, The New York Times, Politico and CNN.
A letter addressed to network president James Goldston, circulated on a Facebook group for ABC News alums, has already garnered more than 230 signatures. It calls on Goldston to “take a public stand. Refuse to take part in any future White House briefings based on an invitation list of who’s in/who’s out.”
{mosads}Other networks, including ABC News and Fox News, were allowed to attend the briefing, as were several right-leaning news organizations, including Breitbart, the Washington Times and One America News Network.
The AP and Time magazine were both allowed to attend the briefing, but boycotted it in solidarity with the excluded outlets.
The former employees’ letter is expected to be delivered to ABC on Wednesday, according to the AP.
In a statement, ABC News said it’s committed to “open, transparent and fair” conduct from the White House press operation.
“We’ve expressed our concerns to the White House that it operates in a way that’s open, transparent and fair,” the statement reads. “And we will continue to stand with our colleagues who cover the White House and to protest when any government official fails to live up to those standards.”
Trump and his associates have long had an adversarial relationship with the press. The president routinely refers to news reports he finds unfavorable as “fake news,” and insists that he is frequently treated unfairly by the media.
Trump announced last week that he would skip the annual White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, an unusual move for a president.