Australia

Canberra, Tuesday, 22 September 2026. For the Australian press, the Washington episode goes beyond a mere American domestic saga: it serves as a lesson. The Sydney Morning Herald, the ABC, and SBS report how CNN, MS NOW, and Politico, banned from the White House on Friday and then stripped of their accreditation on Saturday, have taken the matter to the federal court in Washington to obtain a temporary restraining order, citing the First Amendment. An emergency hearing is expected as early as this week. A rare occurrence: ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox News have joined CNN in suspending the television "pool" that films presidential events, a gesture of solidarity among competitors that the Australian press describes as an "extraordinary revolt". In a joint statement cited by several outlets, the five networks assert that "the public has a vital interest in receiving accurate and independent information about its government" and that "no administration should restrict a media outlet simply because it disagrees with its coverage". A concrete consequence noted by SBS and the ABC: on Monday, Donald Trump's speech inaugurating the White House helipad took place without a relayed microphone, inaudible to the public; his trip to the UN and his meeting with Xi Jinping also remain without guaranteed television coverage. Donald Trump justified the measure by citing an "assault on FAKE NEWS" and a "threat to national security". The president of the White House Correspondents' Association, Jacqui Heinrich, warned that "the standard used to exclude one media outlet could one day be applied to any other". It is this phrase that Guardian Australia particularly notes: in an op-ed, Peter Greste links the American crisis to local attempts by One Nation and advocates for an Australian law protecting press freedom, judging the country vulnerable to a comparable scenario due to the lack of a constitutional guarantee equivalent to the First Amendment. The ABC finally recalls that the Australian press itself relies on a pool to cover Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's trip to the UN this week — a reminder that the system being undermined in Washington is not exotic to Canberra.