NEW YORK (AP) – More than 230 former ABC News correspondents, executives and producers have signed a letter urging the network’s current top executive to take a firm stand against any Trump administration effort to curtail press access.
The letter, which circulated on a Facebook forum for ex-ABC News employees, was written after White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer held an informal briefing last Friday excluding several news organizations that have done stories angering President Donald Trump and his team.
Signees ask ABC News President James Goldston to “take a public stand. Refuse to take part in any future White House briefings based on an invitation list of who’s in/who’s out.”
The petition was due to be delivered on Wednesday. An ABC News representative did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
Signees include Reagan-era White House correspondent Sam Donaldson and former ABC reporters Ken Kashiwahara, Jeanne Meserve and Lynn Sherr. Among the executives are four former executive producers of “World News Tonight” and top leaders at “Nightline,” ”20/20″ and “Good Morning America.” Prominent news executives Rick Kaplan, Bill Lord, Paul Friedman, Av Westin and Tom Yellin signed, along with documentarian and the late anchor Peter Jennings’ widow, Kayce Freed Jennings.