White House bars news outlets from press briefing

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - The White House made the highly provocative move of barring major news outlets from a planned press briefing Friday, prompting protests from the media.

The Los Angeles Times, New York Times, CNN and Politico were denied entry to an informal press gaggle scheduled in place of the daily briefing because of the president's travel.

In response, The Associated Press and Time magazine boycotted the press briefing while the White House Correspondents Association, which heads the press corps, formally protested the White House's action.

Association president Jeff Mason said the group's board "will be discussing this further with White House staff”.

Far-right nationalist news outlet Breitbart News was allowed in, along with other conservative outlets such as the Washington Times and One America News Network. ABC, CBS, the Wall Street Journal and others were also present.

The White House's actions comes just hours after President Donald Trump took aim at the media, slamming "fake news" as he pledged to "do something about it".

The Trump administration has faced a number of scathing media reports, one of which prompted the ouster of former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn.

His departure cemented the shortest term for such a high ranking official.