September 24, 2026

☀️ Happy Thursday! The Briefing is your guide to the world of news and information. Sign up here!

In today’s email:

• Featured story: Judge orders White House to restore access for CNN, MS NOW, Politico
• In other news: California passes law addressing influencers’ political ads
• Looking ahead: Paramount settlement means CNN and CBS will be under the same ownership
• Chart of the week: How U.S. concerns about press freedom compare with worries about other rights

A federal judge ruled today that the Trump administration must temporarily restore White House access to CNN, MS NOW and Politico, which filed a lawsuit after their reporters were banned from White House grounds last week.

The ban and subsequent lawsuit have stirred up national conversations about press freedom. According to a June 2026 survey from the Pew-Knight Initiative, 44% of U.S. adults say the press has become less free during the second Trump administration, while 12% say it has become more free, 26% say there has been no change and 17% aren’t sure. There is a large partisan gap: 72% of Democrats say the press has become less free since Trump’s return to office, compared with 15% of Republicans.

Republicans, for their part, express high levels of distrust in these three media outlets. In a March 2025 survey, Republicans were much more likely to say they distrust than trust CNN, MS NOW and Politico as sources of news, including a majority who said they distrust CNN (58%). Trump’s explanation for the ban echoes this distrust: He told reporters on Friday that his decision was spurred by “two years of unfair and negative coverage” from these outlets.

• California passes law addressing influencers’ political ads
• White House cites use of anonymous sources as reason for banning Politico
• How the White House is seeking to build its own media operation
• Florida state government board, think tank sue The New York Times for “anti-Israel bias”
• YouTube CEO suggests the platform will not join Meta’s child safety settlement agreement, saying YouTube already has youth protections in place
• How The New York Times lost its first defamation case in more than 50 years
• More than 100 journalists at Politico and Business Insider are protesting parent company’s decision to honor Peter Thiel
• Judge dismisses Trump’s lawsuit against Iowa pollster

This week’s chart comes from a recent Pew-Knight Initiative report on Americans’ views of press freedom.

Overall, 46% of U.S. adults say they are extremely or very concerned about potential restrictions on press freedom in the country. Similar shares are concerned about freedom of speech (50%), freedom to assemble peacefully (47%) and the right to vote (46%). Democrats are more concerned than Republicans about potential restrictions on all four of these rights, while Republicans are more likely than Democrats to be concerned about possible limits on the right to bear arms.

👋 That’s all for this week.

The Briefing is compiled by Pew Research Center staff, including Naomi Forman-Katz, Christopher St. Aubin, Emily Tomasik, Joanne Haner, and Sawyer Reed. It is edited by Michael Lipka and copy edited by Anna Jackson.

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