司法部（DOJ）在周末表示将对该国顶级电视网络因去月因其禁止三家新闻机构进入白宫而实施的抵制行为展开反垄断调查，这一声明令许多人感到意外。此声明发布之际，一名联邦法官正在评估西翼阻止CNN（特朗普禁令所针对的网络之一）履行其在轮值池中的职责的行动的合法性。所谓池，指的是随同总统出行并对其进行报道的一组轮换记者。
The Justice Department (DOJ) took many by surprise when it said over the weekend it would investigate the country's top television networks on antitrust grounds over a boycott they carried out last month responding to his ban of three news outlets from the White House. The announcement came as a federal judge is weighing the legality of an effort by the West Wing to keep CNN, one of the networks targeted by Trump’s ban, from carrying out its duties in the pool rotation. The pool is a rotating group of reporters that travels with and covers the president.
电视池包括各网络共享的由池记者提供的广播内容。此事被视为特朗普与全国新闻界持续冲突的重大升级，凸显了他继续推动对新闻机构独立报道进行反击的努力。以下是关于特朗普政府最新针对媒体的行动的关键信息。司法部正在调查五大电视网络——NBC、ABC、CBS、CNN和福克斯新闻——是否因抵制共同履行池报道总统日常活动的职责而违反了联邦反垄断法。
The television pool includes a broadcast shared by the pooler among the networks. The episode is being seen as a major escalation in Trump’s ongoing war with the national press corps and underscores his continued effort to push back on independent reporting of news organizations. Here’s what to know about the Trump administration’s latest salvo against the media. DOJ is probing whether the five major TV networks – NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN and Fox News – had violated federal antitrust law by boycotting their duties working together to pool coverage of the president.
在这些网络将CNN列入其禁止三家新闻机构在白宫工作的名单之后，它们曾短暂停止提供总统日常活动的池报道。尽管联邦法官两周后下令解除该禁令，但白宫仍继续阻止CNN履行池职责。主要电视网络的抵制行为被视为对CNN的支持，这些网络当时在联合声明中表示：“任何政府都不应因新闻机构对其报道持异议而限制其活动。”
The five networks briefly stopped providing pool coverage of the president’s daily activities after he included one of its member outlets, CNN, in a ban of three news organizations from working at the White House. Despite a federal judge ordering the ban lifted two weeks later, the White House has continued to keep CNN from carrying out pool duties. The boycott by the major TV networks was seen as an act of solidarity with CNN, with the networks saying in a joint statement at the time that “no administration should restrict a news organization because it objects to its reporting.”
特朗普的司法部认为，这可能构成对《谢尔曼反托拉斯法》的违反——该法律制定于一百多年前，旨在阻止美国主要商业中的垄断并保护竞争。
Trump’s DOJ argues it could be a violation of the Sherman Act, a law passed more than 100 years ago designed to stop monopiles in major American business and protect competition.
司法部发言人在一份声明中称暂停池报道的决定是“商业竞争者之间的团体抵制”，并表示该部门“只是在进行调查，以确定这些新闻机构是否违反了反垄断法”。汇总总统的音视频素材是全国媒体长期坚持的做法，部分原因在于这是一种节省成本的措施，使各网络可以轮流陪同总统出行，并将他们的报道分发给数十家其他媒体机构，包括地方电视台和小型出版物。
A spokesperson for the DOJ in a statement called the decision to hold back pool coverage a “group boycott among commercial competitors,” and said the department was “simply investigating to determine whether these news organizations have violated the antitrust laws.”Pooling audio and video footage of the president is a longstanding practice in the national media adhered to in part as a cost saving measure that allows for networks to take turns traveling with the president and disseminating their coverage to dozens of other media outlets, including local stations and smaller publications.
西翼与报道白宫的媒体之间的紧张关系已经持续数周。特朗普政府官员认为，记者没有第一修正案权利进入白宫的某些空间，如椭圆形办公室和空军一号。这一理论支撑了西翼对CNN的行动，去年也曾被用来惩罚美联社，原因是该通讯社拒绝将美国南部的水域称为“美利坚湾”。在联邦法官发布命令暂时解除对CNN、MS Now和Politico的禁令后，这三家被白宫禁止的媒体机构的池报道恢复了。
Tensions between the West Wing and media covering the White House have been festering for weeks. Trump administration officials have argued journalists do not have a First Amendment right to access certain White House spaces like the Oval Office and Air Force One. It’s a theory that underpins the West Wing’s efforts against CNN, and was also used to punish the Associated Press last year over the wire service’s refusal to refer to the body of water south of the United States as the “Gulf of America.”After a federal judge issued an order temporarily lifting the ban on CNN, MS Now and Politico, the three outlets banned by the White House, pool coverage by the networks resumed.
到目前为止，已有两次例外情况，均发生在CNN轮到陪同总统出行时，而该媒体的记者被西翼工作人员阻止进行采访。总统指责这些网络发布了关于其政府的“假新闻”，并称此类报道危及国家安全。特朗普多次点名批评这些媒体的记者，并声称自己有权“清除假新闻”，尽管法官已作出裁决。美国地方法院法官蒂莫西·凯利是特朗普任命的法官，他将于本周就池报道相关的第一修正案问题作出裁决。
There have been two exceptions so far, both when it was CNN’s turn to travel with the president and journalists from the outlet were blocked from doing so by West Wing staff. The president has accused each of the networks of publishing “fake news” about his administration, reporting that he argues endangers national security. Trump has called out reporters at the outlets by name and said repeatedly that he has a “right” to “clear out the fake news,” despite the judge’s ruling. U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, a Trump appointee, is slated to rule on the First Amendment issue related to pool coverage specifically this week.
越来越多的反垄断法专家和新闻自由倡导者对司法部调查这些网络因临时抵制而产生的行动的真实性表示怀疑。这些人士表示，对受第一修正案保护的媒体机构提起反垄断诉讼可能站不住脚。“他们必须证明这些网络的集体行动是为了获得商业优势，而我在这里根本看不到这一点，”联邦贸易委员会前主席威廉·科瓦西奇周一对《国会山报》表示。
A growing number of experts on antitrust law and press freedom advocates are casting doubt on the veracity of the Justice Department’s move to probe the networks over their temporary boycott. Bringing an antitrust case against media outlets protected by the First Amendment could be on shaky legal ground, these voices say. “They would have to show the collective action of these networks is being done for a commercial advantage, and I just don’t see it here,” William Kovacic, former chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, told The Hill on Monday.
科瓦西奇说，阻止对总统的新闻池报道源于“对新闻报道的真诚关切。而这正是第一修正案保护的核心。”他补充道：“他们并不是在试图获得更好的广告费用或更多曝光，或实现可衡量的经济优势。”“我认为这真的是对政府试图控制新闻的一种反对表达。”其他人则认为司法部不太可能对这些网络采取法律行动。“伤害特朗普的自尊心或他对关注的渴望不是通过反垄断法可以 redress 的竞争性损害，”新闻自由基金会倡导部门负责人塞斯·斯特恩说。
Holding back pool coverage of the president, Kovacic said, came out of “genuine concern about the coverage of the news. And that’s right in the center of the First Amendment bullseye.”“It’s not like they’re trying to get better advertising rates or morers or achieve measurable economic advantage,” the former chairman added. “I see it as truly an expression of opposition to an effort by the government to control the news.”Others suggested it is unlikely DOJ takes any action against the networks in court. “Harming Trump’s ego or his craving for attention is not a competitive harm redressable through antitrust law,” said Seth Stern, head of advocacy at Freedom of the Press Foundation.
“我不知道他们是否真的在乎输掉官司。他们是在把意大利面条扔到墙上，希望有东西能粘住。”法官凯利对CNN、MSNBC和Politico的临时禁令解除将于周二到期，这意味着如果法官不再采取进一步行动，白宫有可能再次将这些媒体排除在白宫场地之外。法官最初裁定政府侵犯了这三家媒体的正当程序权利，并且对特朗普政府认为媒体公司危及国家安全的论点持怀疑态度。
“I don’t know whether they care so much if they lose in court. They’re throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping something sticks.”Kelly’s temporary injunction lifting the ban on CNN, MS Now and Politico is set to expire on Tuesday, meaning the Whit House could feasibly keep the outlets from the White House grounds again if the judge takes no further action. The judge initially ruled the government had violated the due process rights of the three outlets, and seemed skeptical of the Trump administration’s argument that media companies had endangered national security.
特朗普过去曾攻击凯利法官，称他“完全不忠诚”，并表示法官“可能”会对他不利作出裁决。
Trump has attacked Kelly in the past, calling him “totally disloyal” and saying the judge would “probably” rule against him.
司法部预计将对凯利就新闻机构获取权与第一修正案相关问题所作出的任何裁决提出上诉。一些观察人士表示，司法部的调查表明，针对禁令的抵制行动已经触动了总统的神经，并成为总统多年来一直在与媒体进行的政治博弈的一部分。新闻自由律师斯特恩说：“特朗普一直在告诉所有人他有多么憎恨媒体，并希望他们消失，所以你会认为如果他们决定不再报道他，他会说‘好，他们终于走了’。”
DOJ is expected to appeal any ruling Kelly makes on the First Amendment issue relating to press access. Some observers say DOJ’s probe is a sign the boycott responding to the ban got under the president’s skin and feeds into a political game the president has been playing against the media for years. “Trump has spent all this time telling everyone how much he hates the press and wishes they would go away, so you think he would say good riddance if they decided not to cover him,” said Stern, the press freedom attorney.
但显然，新闻媒体能够几天内关闭他的喇叭让他感到不安。看来他最终想念媒体的程度超过了他自己的预期。”
“But apparently that spooked him that the news outlets were able to shut off his megaphone for a few days. It looks like he ended up missing the press more than he thought he would.”