By Kiki Intarasuwan
/ CBS News
Google Maps changes to Gulf of America
The Associated Press pushed back against the Trump administration on Tuesday after one of its reporters was blocked from an event over the news organization’s guidance on its continued use of the “Gulf of Mexico” in its coverage, calling the move a violation of the First Amendment.
The White House demanded early Tuesday that the AP alter its style guidance to use the name Gulf of America versus using the Gulf of Mexico, AP executive editor Julie Pace said in a statement. President Trump renamed the body of water to the Gulf of America through an executive order last month. Later on Tuesday, Pace said the White House stopped an AP reporter from attending Mr. Trump’s executive order signing in the Oval Office.
“It is alarming that the Trump administration would punish AP for its independent journalism. Limiting our access to the Oval Office based on the content of AP’s speech not only severely impedes the public’s access to independent news, it plainly violates the First Amendment,” Pace said.
The AP’s style guide, which many newsrooms across the country follow, published on Jan. 23, two days after the president signed his executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico, states that Mr. Trump’s order only carries authority within the United States and other countries do not have to recognize the change.
“As a global news agency that disseminates news around the world, the AP must ensure that place names and geography are easily recognizable to all audiences,” the guidance reads.
In his executive order, Mr. Trump also reverted the name of North America’s tallest peak in Alaska, Denali, back to Mount McKinley. The AP’s guidance says that it will be referring to it as Mount McKinley.
“Punishing journalists for not adopting state-mandated terminology is an alarming attack on press freedom,” the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a nonprofit which advocates for First Amendment protections, said in response to the White House’s action. “That’s viewpoint discrimination, and it’s unconstitutional. President Trump has the authority to change how the U.S. government refers to the Gulf. But he cannot punish a news organization for using another term.”
