On Tuesday February 11, the White House barred Associated Press (AP) reporters from the Oval office. Once Trump stepped into office he issued an executive order to change the former name of the Gulf of Mexico into the Gulf of America. With this order came mixed opinions of the people and the press.
The AP decided they will continue to use the Gulf of Mexico in their writing, while also acknowledging Trump’s decision. Trump has stated that he will not allow the re-entry of the AP reporters until they change the style book to go along with Trump’s administration change.
The argument against this restriction is that it is a violation of the AP’s First Amendment rights. However, the Trump administration says it’s a privilege to be at events and to cover them.
The AP isn’t the only news station that still refers to the Gulf of Mexico. Many stations have national coverage so they need to use universal terms in their writing. The executive order only has power in the U.S. so in other nations they still refer to the body of water as the Gulf of Mexico.
In addition, many organizations use the AP style book in reference to their writing. This brings in questions if these organizations will have to adopt new style books or if they cannot cover certain subjects.
AP has since filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on Friday, February 21. The lawsuit reads, “The press and all people in the United States have the right to choose their own words and not be retaliated against by the government.” However, Trump’s administration retaliated by stating that their right to write isn’t being taken away but just their access to events, which doesn’t violate the First Amendment.
There is still more to come in dealing with this lawsuit. The two organizations will have to go to court to resolve the issue. While the case is currently being looked at, it has not been settled.
