From August 31 to September 1 local time, the G20 Finance Ministers' Meeting hosted by the United States was held in Asheville, North Carolina, USA.
According to a report by The New York Times on the 30th, several journalists from this newspaper, along with those from The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg, were not granted the right to interview participants, making it impossible for them to cover this meeting.
Those affected include Alan Rappeporte, a economic policy reporter for The New York Times who has attended nearly 12 G7 and G20 summits. Matt Grossman, an economic reporter for The Wall Street Journal, also had his application for an interview rejected.
In a statement, the spokesperson of The New York Times, Nikole Taylor, stated that this decision "is not only another disturbing action by the current government attempting to dismantle independent journalism but also an open attempt to evade public scrutiny".
The statement says: "Iranian warfare, sanctions, the bond market, and inflation are all on the agenda of the G20 Finance Ministers' Meeting. Therefore, this meeting is of great importance for the global economy and the American people."
Bloomberg reported on the evening of the 30th that the agency had rejected applications for interviews from several journalists, including those based in Europe and Asia. Bloomberg stated that denying the agency access to cover the meeting "undermined media freedom and public accountability."
According to The Associated Press, The Wall Street Journal declined to comment.
A spokesman for the U.S. Treasury said in a statement that the Treasury would host “approximately 300 media personnel from about 12 countries,” including reporters from National Public Radio, The Washington Post, and Al Jazeera.
A spokesperson for the US Treasury also stated that The New York Times will have a journalist attending the meeting. The Treasury Department issued an interview permit to Jim Tancsley, the head of The New York Times' Berlin branch, who is mainly responsible for reporting on Germany and other regions in Europe.
The editor of the Washington branch of The New York Times, Dick Stevenson, wrote to the U.S. Treasury last week, asking Treasury officials to reconsider their decision not to issue interviews permits to Rappaport. A spokesman for The New York Times said that as of now, the Treasury has not changed this decision.
Reports indicate that excluding certain journalists is the latest example of the Trump administration restricting the reporting rights of some journalists.
Last year, the Pentagon implemented a strict policy restricting media interviews, which led to dozens of journalists from mainstream news organizations protesting by surrendering their journalist IDs. The New York Times subsequently sued the Pentagon, claiming that this new policy violated the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. Subsequently, a judge ruled that the policy was unconstitutional.
